Hello everyone!
By now, you must have heard about the new app Threads from Meta. But is it worth having it?
Well, like millions more, I decided to download it and give it a try. I’m not really into social media, and getting a new social media app wasn’t in my plans. But I’ve never had Twitter, so I guess I was curious to see what Meta was doing as a competition.
First of all, getting Threads is very easy to use. You just download it, automatically sign into your Instagram account, import your Instagram profile information (if you want to), follow everyone you already follow on Instagram, and… voilĂ !
My first impression… Well, like I said I don’t have Twitter but I know what it looks like. Threads looks like a hybrid between Twitter and Instagram.
Also, on my feed, I could only see “threads” from accounts I’m not following and people I don’t know. But most of the people I follow on Instagram are not on Threads yet, which explains this.
So, let’s look at the pros and cons of Threads I’ve found so far:
PROS:
- It is easy to download, install, and sign in. The UI is very simple and user-friendly.
- You can follow the same people you are following on Instagram automatically.
- Since it is more of a “writing” app, you don’t need to curate special posts to be published. You can just start a thread by writing a sentence.
- You can add links (yes, links!), images, and videos.
- In your feed, you can see the threads from accounts the people you follow interact with, so you can find new accounts to follow.
- Since they first launched, they’ve added a “Following” tab, where you can see only what the people you follow have posted. A great addition!
- You can share what you posted on Threads as an Instagram post or story.
- You can reshare a thread or quote one. This is a great way to interact with your favorite accounts.
- There are no ads! It is so great to go into an app and scroll down without having to see a million ads. I am sure this won’t last forever, though!
CONS:
- Hashtags don’t work! This is a major one, which I hope they will fix soon.
- I wish they would add a “Favorites” tab like on Instagram. This way you can choose the favorite accounts you are following and only watch their threads.
- You can’t send DMs! Another major one! It is awful to find a really great thread and not be able to send it to your friends and colleagues within the app.
- It isn’t available worldwide yet. As of when I wrote this blog, it still wasn’t available in Europe and other countries.
- The engagement is very low. I think partly it is because not all our followers are in the app yet, and partly because there are no hashtags to help get your threads exposure. But I also feel like people are really shy on Threads and not interacting as much as they do on Instagram.
- If you don’t have an Instagram account, you can’t have Threads.
- In the first few days, millions of people join. But now that the frenzy is over, a lot of people are no longer checking the app, posting, or interacting. Meta did a great job getting people to join the app but they need to improve their strategy to keep them active.
- You can’t change accounts as easily as you do on Instagram. I have a personal and a business account, and I can’t change from one to the other. You have to log out of one to log into the other one. This is too much, so I have my personal account on one device and my business account on another. I hope they will fix this soon too!
I’m sure many of these pros and cons will change by the time this blog is published, but I hope I was able to give you a glimpse into the newest Meta app. And is it worth having it? If you’ve never used Twitter or if you want to leave Twitter, you might want to give it a try. I’ll continue trying it for the next few months and see if they fix all the cons list.
So, do you have Threads yet? What has your experience been like? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe!
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Until next time, take care and stay safe!
XX
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