Threads Q&A With Social Media Manager Madisen

Jack: Hi Madisen. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule today to discuss Meta’s new Social Media platform, Threads. Threads launched over a month ago. How have you found the launch, and have you noticed a noticeable uptake on the platform?

“Madisen: Threads had the biggest uptake that we’ve ever seen across social media apps. Within 24 hours, they had 30 million users, and within a couple of days, they had 100 million users. We haven’t seen anything like that with any other app. TikTok was pretty big, and even that was 100 million over nine months. 

In saying that since the launch at the start of July, Threads has had about an 80% drop off of those users, and I think that the launch of those 100 million people, we can’t really credit that to Threads, but more to the fact that Instagram was already well established. If you had an Instagram account, everyone got that notification that said, “Sign up now, link it across”, and it was the ease of it all. We have seen a significant drop off since then.

Jack: I guess Threads did a good job in the way that they implemented it across the two apps?

“Madisen: Yeah, definitely. And I think if we didn’t have that ease, we wouldn’t have seen the same  uptake. I’m sure it still would have been significant because of X and what happened within that same seven day period, with Twitter turning into X (and various changes made to the platform) to Threads being launched. I think that would still have had an impact. But I think the ease of it all was why we saw such a massive number right away.

Jack: X (Formerly Twitter) is not really a platform that, as a marketing agency, we’ve utilised or felt the need to utilise for our specific client base. Do you feel Threads sits in the same kind of category in terms of its ability to advertise on or try to get engagement from?

“Madisen: Yes and no. I think, compared to what Twitter was, no. Threads doesn’t offer it right now. I think it will depend on what Threads looks like over the coming six to twelve months. I think it’ll change. But, at the same time, the way that the algorithm works on Threads, which is similar to all of Meta’s apps and how their algorithm works, I think that it has the potential to work for marketers and advertisers. So I think the potential is there, but right now, no.

Jack: What did you think of the Threads when you first used it, the ease of use? Obviously, you have said it’s easy to sign up. Did you think it has enough features to make it usable? Was it easy to find people that you were interested in?

“Madisen: Yeah, going back to the algorithm that Threads is using, it’s something that no-one was expecting because everyone was comparing it to X (formerly Twitter), and so when you did the initial sign-up, you were kind of expecting the same thing, which is the timeline of people you follow in chronological order. 

Threads has very much pushed towards what Meta as a brand has been pushing towards, which is that For You Page, very similar to what TikTok is also doing, but with no option to just look at the people that you’re following. So I think when I clicked through onto it and I was expecting to see all the brands that I follow – Obviously when you signed up to Threads, you had the option to automatically follow all of your accounts – I was expecting to see that, and I didn’t, and whilst there were some very relevant brands on there, Threads right now doesn’t have that functionality. So I think that played a large part in why I personally didn’t pick it up.

I think that the marketing brain in me is saying that, yes, of- course I’ll be on there, because brands are on there and artists are on there, and if we want the latest news, we want to be across the platform and see what’s happening on it. But from a personal use perspective, I haven’t used it since because, to me, I can get a similar experience on Meta’s other platforms, and it’s just not providing me the same use, I suppose. 

I think Twitter was largely, for a lot of people, about politics and news, and it was a way of sourcing news, and Threads have actively said that they don’t want the platform to be about politics or news. So a lot of that content isn’t being shown to you within the algorithm, and that’s a big thing with Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram. He doesn’t want that on any of his platforms. So I think that the way that I used Twitter is not the same way that I’d use Threads.

Jack: Do you believe that as a social media network, Threads would need to go along the lines of what Meta’s already done with Instagram now feeding through Facebook for Reels, and that they need to sort of do something similar? Possible Threads feeding onto people’s Instagram pages, potentially prompting users “Would you like to post this on your Instagram?” that then the platform would be more useful?

“Madisen: In the last couple of days, they’ve done that testing, linking Threads through to Instagram. So if you’re posting on threads, you’ll now see it occasionally come up on your Instagram feed. So they’ve already started to do that. But the thing with these new apps, and we see them all the time, is, is it a new shiny thing that we’re going to then get rid of?  And if they make it too similar, is it just going to be phased out like we saw with Instagram when they launched Instagram TV, which lasted less than 12 months and was gone? 

I don’t really have the answer for where I think they should go, but I don’t think that where they’re sitting right now as a platform is going to be a long-term strategy for them. They’ll need to change it up.

Jack: If Threads is to continue, where do you think it needs to be to continue? It had a great intake of users at the first stage, but it obviously needs to maintain those users and get those users actually involved with the platform to keep it being utilised. What do you think Threads needs to be more relevant, especially for us in the marketing field to be able to want to market on there and utilise it for that, which is obviously what they want eventually? What does it need?

“Madisen: That’s a good question. I think where we saw Twitter’s success was in its ability to be an easy way to source news. I understand Meta’s reasoning behind not going there and they want to foster a safe community, and one of the things about Meta is that they have really strict community guidelines, and we work with that as advertisers on a daily basis, and I completely understand that fostering of a safe community, but I also think that perhaps there’s like a middle ground to talking about the news but still fostering that, and I understand for them that’s quite a hard middle ground to find and it will be a lot of tried and testing, but I think they do need to consider that, especially if they want to go up against what X was when it used to be Twitter. 

I think that it is hard because we have this thing with X (Musk changing the platform) and they are trying to figure out where they are, and they are in this awkward space at the moment, but for Threads to be successful, it needs to come off the back of what Twitter was, and they need to think about what they need to do to capture that audience. Right now they are getting Instagram users, but to grab that Twitter audience, they need to see what Twitter had that they don’t have. In saying that we don’t want Twitter’s far-right users on Threads, it’s about finding that middle ground. 

Threads could be really good for brands, with easy-to-digest content and easy posting, and that’s what we currently don’t have on Facebook and Instagram as it’s more curated content, and people are pushing towards that more raw and unedited content, which is why TikTok was such a big thing and that’s why BeReal had their hype moment, and that’s what threads can offer; they just haven’t found their feet yet.

Jack: In Terms of Advertising, there is a whole Meta suite when it comes to advertising; does that interact with Threads, and is it easy to advertise on the platform at the moment?

“Madisen: They haven’t implemented advertising on Threads yet. I’m not sure if it’s due to its functionality. They already have WhatsApp integrated into the suite, so I imagine it will be coming, but not yet.

Jack: Do you think it could be down to them trying to foster users, and maybe having Advertising isn’t a good look on a new platform? 

“Madisen: Yeah, I think they are really focused on fostering a community, and since becoming Meta, they have annoyed a lot of Advertisers, and I think Threads is almost a way for them to try and foster a community. I have no doubt that if Threads lasts the next 12 months, we will see some form of Paid Advertising implemented.

Jack: As a Social Media Manager, you obviously can’t utilise the platform at the moment for Paid Advertising, but perhaps there is the ability to go organic. Do you think a company having an active account on Threads is important, or should they focus more on building up their presence on established networks like Instagram for now?

“Madisen: I’m a big believer in finding your strength and going “gung ho” with that. I think that businesses, particularly smaller businesses, that try to spread themselves across every Social Media platform just so they have a hand everywhere will struggle. It doesn’t work as well as businesses that focus on one or two platforms and the strategy behind those platforms. So if you are a brand and you want to be on Threads and see what it’s about, then great, but I don’t think you should be putting yourself out there or stressing about being on every single platform, as when you do that, your strategy isn’t as good. 

Daisy is on Threads, and we haven’t really done anything with it, but I’m not overly stressed about it because I know what our strengths are right now and that our time and effort could be better used towards other platforms rather than Threads. 

We work in advertising, so I am consuming all of it because I want to know what the latest in the industry is, but I don’t think it’s going to make or break a business, and I don’t think it will for a long time.

Jack: You sort of touched on this already, but do you see Threads potentially having an impact on X’s audience base? 

“Madisen: Yes and no, I think it will depend on how Threads adapts to what their users are telling them. With them pushing away from news and politics, I think that there are a lot of X users that won’t hold an interest in Threads, and I mean, I’m included in that as I really used Twitter for news. I didn’t use it in the same way that I would use Threads, which is more for interacting with brands. 

I think they’ve got the opportunity there and last week with Elon Musk (X owner) announcing that X was banning the ability to block people, I think just opens up people’s safety to a lot more risk and I think if he continues to act like that and implement those things and stop people from being able to block hate speech, then Threads has a real opportunity to take off, but I’m not too sure. I don’t think it’ll ever be the same as what Twitter was at the height of its use. 

Jack: So it’s got to have some sort of relevance to people? Personally, I really only use Twitter (x) to find sporting news, such as AFL and soccer teams that I support, and I guess if those sporting clubs or journalists covering those sports aren’t on Threads, no one’s going to go, “Hey, let’s move across to Threads,” when there is no one relevant to them on that platform for them to follow?

“Madisen: Exactly, and I think Meta has said that they want Threads to be a place that is focused on entertainment and artists and all things “happy and light,” but I think there’s a time and place for news and hard-hitting news, and I think it’s really hard, I don’t have to do it so I don’t know if I have a place to have an opinion on it, but I think there is also a degree to which Twitter was kind of good for that, and I think that Meta’s community guidelines are quite strict, so I don’t know if not having that at all is any better than, you know, just trying to replace Twitter for the sake of it. 

Jack: Do you believe there’s something that Meta would have to do to incentivize celebrities or people that people would relate to onto the platform?

“Madisen: To a degree. If people like the Kardashians are on Threads, there are going to be people who sign up for Threads. If your favorite artist is announcing their next tour on Threads then you’re going to be on Threads because you want to know, but I think that’s also relative to all social media platforms.

I think that the community guidelines and the way that the algorithm is currently working on Threads is not something that users are responding to because they’re expecting Twitter. People who sign up for Threads, a lot of them are expecting it to replace what Twitter was so I think they’re battling expectations at the moment.

Jack: I guess they also don’t want to lose Instagram as a platform and lose users to Threads because Instagram is Meta’s main source of Advertising and, as such, income?

“Madisen: I don’t see Threads posing a threat to Instagram anytime soon. Meta has again copied other platforms, It’s the thing that they do which isn’t a problem, but it’ll be really interesting to see how they adapt to feedback from their users.

Jack: Is there anything else you think could happen in the next few months, or is there anything happening in the Meta space that you think’s interesting to sort of touch on and sort of keep an eye on, particularly for marketing

“Madisen: That’s a good question. I’m really interested to see where Meta goes with their advertising and targeting options in the next year, and this might be getting a bit technical, but from an advertiser’s point of view, someone that spends a lot of time creating campaigns and targeting, the targeting functionality of Meta has changed a lot in the last two years, and the control that advertisers have with their detailed targeting has changed a lot. 

Privacy has also become a big thing, and one thing we’ve noticed is that community guidelines have cracked down really hard on all Meta platforms, so I think we’ll continue to see that, and I’m interested to see as they push toward automation a lot more and Meta having a lot more control. I think we’ll see a big change there, as we have in the last couple of years.

Jack: A lot of that comes from what’s happening in Europe at the moment regarding digital privacy and even AI. I know in Europe where they are quite strict on “hey you can’t have your robots go through this site and read all this data, and you can’t keep track of this person’s age and their interests.” 

Do you think that’s sort of having an impact on what we can do as an agency?

“Madisen: For sure, and it definitely has. You know, we saw a couple of years ago, once the iOS 14 (iPhone software) update came in, that it blocked us from targeting quite a few people, Apple devices, and even little things. For example, we used to be able to target people based on their income or their perceived income on social media. We can no longer do that, and it’s changed quite a bit, but I think it’s always been a thing in advertising where you just learn and adapt, and computers get smarter, so they have found ways around it before, and I’m sure they’ll continue to find ways around it, and I have no doubt we’ll be using more AI in the next two years.

Jack: That leads to my next question regarding AI. Do you think that’s going to have some sort of involvement in what we do in the advertising space? We obviously already use it in SEO in terms of crawling for information and resource gathering, but in regards to social media, I haven’t really seen much in that space at the moment. I guess for AI on social media platforms, is there anything coming through that we should be keeping an eye on?

“Madisen: Absolutely. AI isn’t that future, it is now. I think we, as an agency, will see other agencies and ourselves adapting AI in our day-to-day practices because it just makes more sense for us to utilise those tools, and I think to stay competitive, we need to be utilizing them. 

If we’re an agency that’s spending two weeks getting a campaign ready and another agency can do that in a matter of days because they’re using AI tools, then we’re going to have to learn and adapt. Social media will very much push in that direction because we’re seeing it, and the only thing that is stopping us right now is time to learn an entirely new skill set and resources, but definitely, I reckon we’ll have a lot more AI going on in the next couple of months.