To thread or not to thread

A rundown on Meta's new Twitter-rival

There is a familiar collective eyeroll that connects marketers, communications professionals and influencers alike about a new social media platform. But this time it was different. People were increasingly frustrated with Twitter since the Elon Musk takeover and makeover. Loss of verified status, perceived lower scrutiny, restrictions on feed views meant many tried to jump to Mastodon but it didn’t quite catch on. The Twitterati was ready for a viable alternative and we now have it in the form of Zuckerberg’s Threads. But you should join? And what do you need to know before you do?

Well for a start, you will need an Instagram account. Currently, Threads doesn’t allow you to join without it. Threaders also can’t deactivate it without deleting their Instagram account. It remains to be seen if this will change in due course so Twitter users with no Insta can move over (and others). If you’re used to Twitter, it’s also incredibly familiar and user-friendly. When it doubt, click the three dots or lines to the top of a post or page.

Here are some other things you need to know and consider.

Threads is a meticulous copy of Twitter but few know how to use it

The segue from Instagram means the bulk of users are used to a visual medium. Twitter and Threads are conversational platforms. One of the reasons Twitter became as powerful as it did was because it was (mostly leftie) politics heavy and a cultural barometer. At the moment, Threads is full of people who are not used to conversational social media platforms. A lot of questions are being asked, some likes and replies but the repost function seems mostly unused.

You don’t need me to tell you *again* that the keyword in social media is social! Engage!

Instagram dictates your following to start and growth strategy is as yet unclear

If you don’t have lots of followers on Instagram, you won’t have many on Threads for now. How to grow following while on Threads is as yet unclear. There is also no guarantee that the users who sign up and follow you from Instagram will use it, engage with you or stay. Only time will tell. Users currently also don’t quite know what to post. If you’re not a natural Twitter user, it can be awkward and photos of people feeding themselves are already rife. Yes, feeding yourself to a camera selfie is the number 1 way to drive followers on Instagram (apart from reels). No, it doesn’t make sense to me either.

What, then, to post?

Threads is new and we can do what we like with it. As a general guideline, negativity and videos should stay off as that is the biggest USP it offers (apart from being a rival to deteriorating Twitter and a big middle finger to Musk). The 280-character limit on Twitter was design perfect to create polarised content that divides and separates. With 500 characters, Threads offers space for a bit more caution and care.

It remains to be seen if negativity drives following and success as with so many other social media platforms. Videos are also seen as naff. Many heads hurt from the swirling, twirling, badly edited, low-fi videos that are a must now on Instagram as reels and TikTok as standard. I declare Threads a no video zone (having posted one video and decided never again).

There are lots of questions being posed of followers, including such riveting ones like, “what’s for dinner” and “what vegetables languish at the bottom of your fridge drawer”. For the as yet undecided, I would go for Twitter without the negativity. So:

• Observations that make an emotional connection (i.e. illicit a response)

• Commentary on news and happenings

• Conversations that inspire and engage

• Cross promoting is cool. Given Insta’s algorithms went feral, photos of what you ate, events you’re hosting and more are fine. In fact, gorgeous photos of food are doing exceptionally well, no surprises there for a visual-led audience!

• Controversy is also okay but within reason. I’ve muted someone who had a rant about the postman. No one needs that with their breakfast…

The big question: Will Twitter die?

No one knows if this is the end of Twitter or indeed, whether Threads will weave magic permanently. The functionality is basic and lots of features are yet to come online. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, is worth following for his honesty on the journey they are on. For the food community (also fitness and fashion), a leap over makes sense. In fact, 100 million people signed up for threads in five days - beating ChatGPT.

But for everyone else, Twitter isn’t going anywhere soon. I find it to be an excellent bellwether on the state of the nation and there are lots of commentators on there who are not quite the Threads captive audience yet. I built my following on there to some 16.5k followers and it feels a shame to jump ship entirely. There is also no guarantee how Threads will grow, and whether it will succumb to the trolls, fascists, racists, bigots and more (you get my drift here).

If you do decide to come along for the ride, I am @MallikaBasu_, the same as my Instagram handle, of course. I am also now on TikTok, but my head hurts from it and I’ll share my thoughts, feelings and experience with some learnings in due course. As with all social media, you need to intentionally go where the money and the paying punters are, i.e. your target audience, customers and clients. For what it’s worth, for professional networking LinkedIn is the very best of the lot and for personal brand building, TikTok is where things are increasingly at for the food world. More on this thread later.