Are you an entrepreneur wondering if your business should join Threads? Deciding to join a new social media platform is not always easy. It’s important to weigh the pros and cons carefully before making the jump.
Threads can help you get more engagement with existing customers and provide another outlet for creativity. However, these benefits come with some potential downsides that need consideration as well.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss what joining Threads means for businesses of all sizes and how entrepreneurs can decide whether or not their business should use this platform.
What is Threads?
Essentially, due to Elon Musk’s changes to Twitter after his takeover, many have jumped ship.
Many journalists, celebrities, and everyday users have finally left the platform, which has actually been in decline for some time. Data shows it was declining before Musk purchased it.
As such many potential competitors are trying to take Twitter’s place with new platforms.
Threads is essentially Meta’s Twitter-replacement platform.
It is meant to perform basically all the same functions. However, even for Meta, directly taking the place of Twitter in function and in global culture is not an easy task.
After all, Twitter transcended the usual boundaries of online platforms and had even become a widely recognizable noun and verb. It transformed the meaning of the word ‘tweet.’
Twitter was known as a place where news broke and revolutions began.
Can Threads do all of that? Is it necessary for your business to be on there?
The Pros of Threads
Threads, as it is a Meta product, is already integrated with Instagram. Instagram is one of the world’s largest social media platforms, with over a billion users.
It is more accessible than many other potential Twitter replacements, which are from smaller companies that are less known or require an invite.
Meta also says that they have attempted to design Threads with the most user-friendly interface possible. At the moment, it is definitely easier to use than X (Formerly Twitter) and other potential Twitter competitors.
There has been a lot of buzz about Mastodon as a platform that can replace Twitter, but it is simply not easy for casual users to get started.
Also, as Threads is integrated with Instagram, it can serve as a tool for sharing visual media.
If you already have a prominent Instagram presence, it may be worth it to try and get your following to move to Threads with you.
After all, anyone who has an Instagram account can create a Threads account in a snap.
The Cons
One of the big cons of Threads is that because it is a new platform, there is limited reach. Some early users say that the platform is boring. This is likely because it lacks the user base that social media users on larger platforms are used to.
It seems that despite Meta’s potential reach and the vacuum created by the failure of Twitter, users are not exactly clamoring to get on Threads.
Also, as Threads is a new platform, it does not yet have many of the features that made Twitter so appealing to users. For example, it lacks a ‘retweet’ equivalent feature.
While Meta will likely implement more features with time, the limited features may contribute to many early adopters finding the platform somewhat boring.
Also, at least as of now, Threads offers limited marketing and analytics features.
While this makes the platform much easier to use for marketers than many others, it also means that there is simply less that you can do with it.
Is Threads Worth it for Your Business?
If you already have a large loyal audience, it may be worth it to start on Threads. You can make it a place where you share exclusive content to connect with your audience, for example.
However, as Threads is a new app with limited reach that offers limited advertising and analytics, it is likely not a good place to start if you are trying to build an audience from scratch today.
Twitter used to be an amazing resource for entrepreneurs who were trying to find community and build a following.
However, these days, the platform just does not work that well. There has also been an influx of nazis, alt-right political actors, and hackings.
This has caused many to lose faith in the platform or just simply not want to be associated with it at all.
A Quick Look at Some Other Twitter Alternatives
If you don’t want to be on X anymore, but Threads also doesn’t seem like the best choice, you do have other options.
Right now, we are somewhat in the Wild West era of potential Twitter replacements. Many companies, big and small, are stepping in to try and get the job done. Others are wondering if older blogging platforms, like Tumblr, might even step in and take Twitter’s place.
Some stand by Elon Musk, and believe that the current issues with X are just growing pains. They think the site will improve with time.
In any case, keep in mind that there are many potential options. Some are in their early stages, and no one really knows what will happen in this space.
Here are two of the more buzzy options.
Mastodon
Mastodon has been getting a lot of buzz lately, as it is a decentralized social network. This appeals to many who enjoy tech and social media specifically.
Rather than operating as one large social network with general rules, users can create their own individual communities that operate autonomously.
If you want to build a strong community around your brand or business, Mastodon can be an incredible tool. However, it is incredibly complicated to set up and get used to for your average social media user.
Whether Mastodon would suit you or not depends on what your business is and does, and who your user base is. If you have a tech-related business and your audience is savvy and likes to be on the cutting edge of things, it may be an amazing option.
However, if you are more of a casual social media user who doesn’t have the time to build and moderate a community, and you think your audience would be alienated by Mastodon’s high bar to entry, it’s a skip.
Bluesky
Back in 2019, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey announced that work was going into a decentralized version of Twitter.
Twitter is funding a small independent team of up to five open source architects, engineers, and designers to develop an open and decentralized standard for social media. The goal is for Twitter to ultimately be a client of this standard. 🧵
— jack (@jack) December 11, 2019
However, once Musk bought Twitter, the relationship between Twitter and Bluesky was terminated. As such, Bluesky has struck out on its own.
It has recently raised $8 million to build itself out and is still in beta mode. However, as it is still in beta mode, it is invite-only.
While this may change in the future, for now, the invite-only nature of Bluesky means that it has incredibly limited reach. However, when it is ready it will have all the functionalities of Twitter, but with the decentralized aspect of Mastodon.
If you want to learn more about some of the platforms looking to replace Twitter, take a look at our blog post on the topic.
Final Thoughts on Threads
So, should your business get on Threads?
Ultimately, it really depends on your business, how many followers you currently have, where they are, and what you are trying to accomplish.
If you are already on a number of platforms, it may be better to focus on what you already have. Spreading yourself thin on a ton of platforms can be time consuming, costly, and ineffective.
However, if you are looking on an easy and readily-available Twitter replacement with a low bar of entry, and already have an Instragram account, Threads is a solid solution.
Many people are not actually interested in the mechanics of social platforms themselves.
They don’t care if something is cutting edge, decentralized, or whatever else. They don’t care who the CEO is and what their personal goals or quirks are. Many entrepreneurs just want something that lets them do what they need to do to grow an online presence.
If that’s you, it may be worth it to start up on Threads, and just wait and see if more people join over time.
At the moment, there are so many possible Twitter competitors out there that it’s hard to say if one will really seamlessly replace Twitter.
What do you think? Comment below.
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