Threads took the world of social media by storm back in July.
10 million people joined the app within seven hours of its launch and 100 million in less than a week, making Threads the fastest-growing media platform of all time.
However, with the number of active users on the platform sitting 72% lower than at its peak, it’s got us thinking… Is Threads already dead and should we be heading back to our X?
Senior Communications Executive, Bronia, shares her thoughts on the platforms and whether you should be keeping them in mind for your social media content creation.
The state of Threads
Meta’s answer to Elon Musk’s X (RIP Twitter) seemed like everything social media users were calling out for when it burst onto the scene a couple of months ago.
Threads’ simple, text-based format felt reminiscent of the old days of Twitter, built around conversation and exchanges between users, and was a refreshing change from the appearance-led platform of Instagram.
In the first few weeks, the platform offered an experiential playground for brands, businesses and even influencers to duplicate their following on a new channel and test the waters with their tone of voice, with brands like Monzo and Specsavers smashing the game.
However, despite Threads’ quick rise to the top, in little over two months since the platform’s launch, the level of active usage amongst consumers is relatively low.
Should we head back to our X?
Since Elon’s takeover of Twitter and its consequent rebrand to X, there has been a lot of discussion around the future of the platform and whether there will be a mass exodus of users.
However, whilst thousands of users are unimpressed with the changes made to the platform in recent months, such as imposing a variety of limits on users who don’t pay for the platform, X still boasts approximately 330 million monthly users.
The legacy of Twitter still lingers in X, with habitual usage deep-rooted for consumers in search of news updates, funny memes or engagement with their community.
Additionally, whilst there have been many changes, the day-to-day usage of the app hasn’t changed that much — meaning that users haven’t been forced to flee in search of other platforms (for now, at least).
So, where do we go from here?
It’s probably a little too early to say whether brands and businesses should abandon the X ship and climb aboard the Threads express…
However, we do have some recommendations for how you should approach your social media calendars considering what we have seen from Threads and X in the last few months.
- Keep the lights on — If your brand already has a large following on X, make sure you keep a regular stream of content going out on this platform. Whilst this audience might not actively engage with your posts, X is often used as a customer service platform and as a measurement of brand hygiene.
- Find out what’s working — Whilst the engagement rate on X is quite low and we are still learning about the type of content that works on Threads, it’s important to evaluate your brand’s levels of engagement from your target audience and implement these key learnings in your content creation.
- Try something new — Where time and budget allows, why not try something different? The evolving space of social media, with the introduction of Threads and the ongoing development of X, has presented the ideal opportunity to test out a new tone of voice or a different style of messaging.
Need some help keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media? Get in touch with our experts.
