Meta’s newest social media platform has just hit the app store, but can it rival Twitter?

Threads is Meta’s latest project that has already been described as a “Twitter killer.” The app was launched on the 5th of July, 2023, and already has 112 million users.  

But what exactly is Threads, and as an influencer or digital content creator, should you be making the switch from Twitter? 

In this article, we will be discussing how Twitter and Threads can be used for influencers, and which platform is the best for content creators who are looking to expand their audience. 

Twitter VS. Threads – Where Should Creators Be?

What is Twitter?

Twitter was founded in 2006, nearly 17 years ago, and is one of the most popular social media platforms of all time. 

Founded by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone, the platform has since overgone many changes. Originally designed to be a platform in which you could text out short statuses, Twitter has since grown into a platform for people to share breaking news, and trending topics, and for important figures such as presidents to share announcements to the world. Twitter was known for having a 140-character limit, which has now been doubled to 280. Twitter Blue members can tweet up to 4000 characters in a single Tweet. 

As of June 2023, there are over 500 million active users, though it is estimated that nearly 15% of all accounts are fake. 

In October 2022, billionaire Elon Musk became the CEO of Twitter after he expressed concern about Twitter’s free-speech policies. This acquisition caused a significant uproar after Musk implemented several policy changes. 

These policy changes include a temporary limit on how many Tweets a user can see a day and the inability to link to third-party apps such as Facebook or Instagram. 

Twitter’s Features For Influencers

Which features on Twitter can help you as an influencer?

• Retweets
  • Retweeting allows you to share tweets from other accounts with your own followers. 
  • By retweeting relevant and interesting content, you can curate valuable information for your audience and expand your reach by associating yourself with this content. 
  • Retweeting from popular brands and businesses can also help you get in contact for possible brand deals and sponsorships. 
• Replies
  • Engaging in conversations is a key aspect of Twitter. 
  • When you reply to tweets, whether from your followers or other users, you can build relationships, provide insights, answer questions, and actively participate in discussions within your niche. 
• Twitter Spaces
  • Introduced in 2020, Twitter Spaces is an audio chat feature that can help bring your audience engagement to the next level by allowing you to host live audio conversations with your followers. 
  • You can use Spaces to conduct Q&A sessions, discussions, interviews, or provide live audio content.
• Twitter Blue
  • Twitter Blue is a paid subscription service that allows users premium features unavailable to other accounts. These premium features are:
    • Undo Tweet: With this feature, you can delay the posting of a tweet for up to one minute, allowing you to withdraw it before it becomes publicly visible.
    • Dedicated Customer Support: Twitter Blue provides dedicated customer support to subscribers, ensuring a more prompt and personalized assistance experience.
    • Edit Feature: Users have the ability to edit tweets within one hour of publication, enabling them to make corrections or modifications to their Tweets after posting.
    • Longer Tweets: Twitter Blue offers an increased character limit of up to 4,000 characters per Tweet, enabling users to share more extensive and detailed content.

What is Threads?

Threads is an extension of Instagram that has been created by Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The development for Threads began in January of 2023 and was launched in July same year. 

Threads is a very similar concept to Twitter that is meant to directly compete with the elder platform. Users can send out posts with a 500-character limit and up to 5 minutes of video content and scroll through a timeline of posts from accounts they follow. However, unlike Twitter, there are no hashtags, direct messaging, or trending pages.

As of July 2023, there are 112 million users on the site, though it has been reported that activity has been decreasing since the launch earlier in the month. Also as of July 2023, there are no ads on the platform. 

Threads is still technically a companion app to Instagram – you must have an Instagram account to create a Threads page. As of July 15th, if you delete your Threads account, you will also have to delete your main Instagram account. 

Threads Features 

What are some features of Threads that can be helpful for influencers?

1. Branded Content
   • Threads is allowing users to have branded content tools just like Instagram. This allows brands and creators to work together to share sponsored content and brand deals.
2. Share your Threads on your Instagram stories
   • What good is a companion app if you can’t utilize your Instagram following? Threads allow you to share your posts on your Instagram stories, which can help create more engagement for your posts. 
3. High Engagement Rates
   • On average, an Instagram post has an engagement rate of 2.2%. On Threads, this is doubled with an engagement rate of 5.2%. Since this is a brand new market, Threads are being shared at a very high rate, and you have a high chance of your Thread’s posts going viral with their timeline page being made up of mostly non-followers. 
4. High Word Count & Long Videos
   • Compared to Twitter’s 280 limit character count and 2-minute video limit, Threads ability to create posts up to 500 character limit and 5-minute videos can allow you to create longer form, engaging content and interact with your audience. 

What platform should you choose?

Both Twitter and Threads can be valuable platforms for influencers, but the choice ultimately depends on your goals, content style, and target audience. 

Here are some factors to consider:

• Twitter:
  • Twitter’s concise and real-time nature makes the platform amazing for influencers who excel at delivering quick and impactful messages. 
  • If you are skilled at crafting compelling tweets within the character limit and you want to engage in real-time conversations with your audience, Twitter is a great choice. 
  • Twitter’s viral nature and potential for reaching a broad audience make the platform perfect for gaining exposure, building a personal brand, and sharing content that resonates quickly.
• Threads
  • Whenever there is a new social media platform, it’s a good idea to get on the platform quickly. This is the time when you can be one of the pioneers of a platform and can quickly help you grow your brand and following.
  • Many accounts reported seeing massive engagement rates to their Threads posts after not expecting much from the posts. 
  • Staying up to date with the latest trends, such as joining the newest social media platform, can be a great way to show your audience you are on top of trends and “in the know.” 

Ultimately, it may not be time to ditch Twitter quite yet. The platform still has a massive impact on trending topics and you can still post brand deals, engage with your audience, and have the opportunity to go viral with your Tweets. 

But if you haven’t already, make sure you have downloaded Threads and connected your Instagram account so you can start to watch how Threads works in the coming months. 

Will Threads eventually kill Twitter? It’s hard to say, but make sure you are on both platforms in case you ever need to jump ship.