Instagram Threads is LIVE: Meta’s Newest App, Influencer Reactions, Plus 3 Benefits for Influencer Marketing

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced an initial version of a new Meta platform that rivals Elon Musk’s Twitter. Meet Instagram Threads.

Reports describe Meta’s new Threads app as a “text-based conversation app” with a feed that looks very similar to the feeds we’re familiar with on Twitter. 

Threads, which is officially live for use, appeared just days after Musk announced that Twitter will now set a cap on the number of tweets users are exposed to daily. Currently and comparatively, Threads will be free to users with no cap on the content consumed at any point.     

There have been many platforms in social space aiming to compete with Twitter’s popularity, unsuccessfully, but Threads has the potential to be a worthy opponent. Meta has seen great success in rivaling features of competing apps and making them their own. We’ve seen this with the adoption of stories (started by Snapchat) and the adoption of Reels (rivaling TikTok).                                                          

Since Musk purchased Twitter, there has been discourse among users regarding the app's viability and overall enjoyment. The Threads app presents an exciting alternative for brands, creators, and users.

How influencers feel about Threads so far

Within two days of the launch, Threads reached 70M downloads, and within five days of the launch, it's breaking records, surpassing 100M downloads and users on the platform. For many influencers who have already amassed a following on Instagram, Threads is a no-brainer. For now, it looks as if the world wide web of creators are joining the fun, and the reviews are in. 

• Many say that the ease of porting all of your followers onto another platform with just a few clicks is too hard to pass up.
• Some creators say compared to Twitter, whose audience is a majority non-Gen Z, Threads is helping them reach the Gen Z audience in a text-forward way.
• Since Threads' release, travel creator Catarina Mello says Instagram has been oddly quiet, with creators wondering whether it’s worth posting there.
• Many creators are happy that Threads offers a way to keep conversations alive with their audience via text instead of video. We can guess that creators may come to prefer Threads, as posting a text is less time-consuming than editing a clip.
• Creators like Jessica Ufuoma say they are excited to use Threads to show a more authentic side of their personalities. Despite IG’s path to casualness, many still perceive Instagram as an aesthetic platform made for professional photoshoots and planned photo dumps. Because it’s so easy to just post a Thread, creators might feel more comfortable with speaking freely about their opinions on the new app.
  

Behind the scenes, many creators are already strategizing how they will appear on Threads. For the time being, Threads is a shiny new thing that we’re obsessed with, but TBD on whether or not it sticks. We have seen the rise and fall of multiple social media apps trying to make it big in the space (remember the hype around BeReal and Lemon8?).

Three benefits for brands and creators to try Threads:

Reach niche audiences

Threads’ community-based potential as an arm of Instagram presents the opportunity to reach niche audience segments through Instagram’s expansive algorithm. 

We’ve joked in our internal Fohr Strategy meetings that ‘our Instagram algorithms may know us better than we know ourselves,’ so the ability to leverage that same data to connect users seems like a fantastic opportunity for brands and creators to find their highest engaged audiences to increase brand affinity and awareness.

Community engagement

The new Threads app offers the opportunity to build and foster stronger relationships between users and brands/creators. Like how brand accounts communicate and reply to everyday user tweets, the Threads app offers a way for brands to initiate and interact through direct communication with their followers and reach new like-minded community members. 

Rewards for early adopters

Meta and Instagram have done a great job over the years borrowing ideas and making them their own updates and platform features. These updates are initially met with hesitation but later become a big part of brand strategies and significant to adopt. 

We see a world where early adopters of this new app will see the highest benefit as it is brand new, leaving room to test as the platform evolves. 

Meta’s Threads is now live for download in your app store! As usual, feel free to check it out, and we’ll return here with any updates.

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Thumbnail source: Apple