A Fierce First Impression
What Happened to Europe's Technophobia?
Happy lunchtime LA, good afternoon New York, and good evening Europe!
This is Daniel with the second edition of Style & Stitches, covering the latest, the rise or fall on Threads. Ultimately, it all comes down to user acceptance, and first impressions count. That's why we're analyzing the reaction of EU users in the first 24 hours – and it's fierce: 71% are positive!
Pinning Our Hopes on Threads
The Verge, 24 hours post-launch in Europe, asked its users about their first impressions of Threads. Over 300 comments poured in. We've read them all, and here's our analysis:
71% had an overall good first impression, with only 29% expressing a neutral or negative experience. This is a surprisingly positive result, considering Europeans' known technophobia and the omnipresent skepticism towards big tech players from the US, especially Meta, with its history of scandals over data privacy, hate speech, and its influence on society through the dominance of its networks.
Let’s dive into what people love about Threads:
"Surprisingly well executed. Feels like what a serious social media platform should be like in 2023: strong moderation tools reliable great execution." - shadician
Clean and Minimalistic Design: Several users, like akoncius, praised the app for its smooth and minimalistic design, indicating a preference for a simple, uncluttered interface.
Nostalgic Feel: Users like samin and defriedrichmartin expressed a sense of nostalgia, comparing Threads favorably to the early days of Twitter. This suggests that Threads evoked a feeling of the simpler, more community-focused era of social media.
Increased Interaction: A user named greenie96 noted that people on Threads interact more, not just with likes, but in more engaging ways. This increased interaction was seen as a positive aspect of the platform.
Strong Moderation Tools: Shadician mentioned that the platform is "surprisingly well executed" with strong moderation tools, indicating that users value a well-moderated and managed social media environment.
No Ads: The apparent absence of ads, as questioned by dana.georgiana, suggests that users appreciated a cleaner experience without the clutter of advertising.
More Authentic Engagement: The app seemed to foster a sense of excitement and hyperactivity, reminiscent of the early social media days, as mentioned by d_ene.
However, Here Are Some Areas for Improvement:
"It’s a very immature app. Lots of common functions not available eg analytics. Right now hard to see how people will use it for something meaningful when they are already using Instagram and X." - troelsj
App Maturity and Functionality: Several users consider the Threads app to be immature, lacking in common functions like analytics. There's a sentiment that it's hard to see how the app could be used meaningfully, especially when people are already using platforms like Instagram.
User Experience and Interface: Comments about the user interface are mixed. Some users find the app's design smooth and minimalistic, while others criticize it for being too algorithmic and having irritating UX patterns, such as prompting users to follow more people.
Comparison with Other Platforms: Many users compare Threads to Twitter, with some preferring Threads for its interaction style and others missing features like hashtags, location tags, and trending topics. There's a general feeling of nostalgia for the early days of Twitter among some users.
Content and Engagement: Some discussions focus on how to find good content on Threads and the nature of user engagement. There's a mention of ads, or the lack thereof, and a comparison of engagement styles between Threads and other platforms.
Concerns and Suggestions: Users express various concerns and suggestions, such as the need for third-party apps, better customization options, and the ability to switch between profiles more easily. There's also a desire for Threads to adopt ActivityPub, which would allow for the creation of custom clients.
Cultural and Social Remarks: Some humorous and critical remarks reflect the cultural and social aspects of engaging with new social media platforms, including skepticism about online ads and the authenticity of social media interactions.
The Future: High Hopes for Threads
"Fingers crossed it's the X killer app." - j_aa_p
Improved Functionality and Features: Users like troelsj expressed a desire for more mature app functionalities, such as analytics tools. This suggests a hope for the app to evolve and include more advanced features over time.
Enhanced Customization and Filtering Options: Several users, like defriedrichmartin, expressed a need for better customization and filtering options within the app, indicating a desire for a more personalized and controlled social media experience.
Implementation of Hashtags and Trending Topics: The absence of features like hashtags and trending topics was noted as a shortfall. Users like danielevanssings hope for the incorporation of these elements to enhance content discoverability and engagement.
Expansion of User Base and Content Variety: Users like raporti and stablestream_ showed interest in seeing Threads gain popularity and a diverse range of content, suggesting a desire for the platform to grow into a vibrant community.
Integration with Other Platforms: The suggestion to adopt standards like ActivityPub, as mentioned by rapporti, indicates a hope for interoperability with other platforms and the ability to create custom clients.
Sustained Engagement and Community Growth: Comments from users like greenie96 reflect a hope that the initial spike in engagement and interaction on Threads is not just a temporary phenomenon but will sustain and grow over time.
Keeping the Platform Ad-Free: The observation of the lack of ads by dana.georgiana implies a hope among users for Threads to maintain an ad-free environment, which is often seen as a more user-friendly approach.
Interestingly, the EU regulations that delayed Threads' launch in Europe didn't seem to impact user opinions significantly. They haven’t been mentioned. This insight should also be a statement for EU regulators.
The hope for Threads to be the 'X killer app' is high. Strategic craftsmanship in platform development and giving users enough time to find purpose in the new network will be essential to its success.
Knitting on Threads: Reposts & Quotes
In the world of social media, the way content is shared and promoted can significantly impact the visibility and engagement it receives. This is particularly true for Threads, where the mechanisms for reposting and quoting content differ notably from Twitter.
On Twitter, users often expressed frustration when their content was quoted rather than retweeted. The reason for this was that quoting a tweet, rather than retweeting it, resulted in the quoted tweet gaining visibility, rather than the original content. This diverted attention away from the original poster's account and content.
In contrast, on Threads, the dynamics of reposting and quoting are quite different. Threads introduced a new "Reposts" tab on user profiles, which centralizes all the threads a user has reposted in one place. This change was part of a broader update to the platform, which also included adjustments to the "Following Feed" to display reposts from people you follow. Previously, this feed only showed original posts from the people you followed, excluding reposts​​.
However, it's important to note that reposts on Threads do not necessarily garner the same level of visibility as original posts or quotes. To provide visibility to someone's content on Threads, quoting their thread seems to be more effective. Quoting a thread is more akin to retweeting with a comment on Twitter, where the original content is given prominence along with the user's commentary.
For users and brands considering leveraging Threads for engagement, it's good to know that prioritizing quotes over reposts may be a more effective strategy for increasing the visibility of content. This approach aligns with the platform's emphasis on fostering meaningful interactions and community building.
Brought to our attention by @Netzlehrer - Sources: 9to5Mac & Wikipedia
What’s new?
Adam Mosseri spells out Threads’ plans for the fediverse
Full integration will roll out in stages.
www.theverge.com/2023/12/15/24003435/adam-mosseri-threads-fediverse-plans
Threads Is Adding Some Flair To Holiday Posts
Holiday posts might have a little extra added to them on the social network.
uk.pcmag.com/social-media/150157/threads-is-adding-some-flair-to-holiday-posts
Meta’s Threads app launches across EU in blow to competitor X
The tech giant’s app, which launched in July 2023, first needed approval from the European Commission over privacy provisions
www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/14/threads-launches-europe-meta-twitter
Spring Boot 3.2 Delivers Support for Virtual Threads and Modern RestClient and JdbcClient
The Spring Boot team released Spring Boot 3.2 in November 2023. This latest release is packed with features, the most noteworthy of which is the support for Virtual Threads and Coordinated Restore at Checkpoint (CRaC). Other features include SSL Bundle reloading, Rest Client and JDBC Client interface support, observability improvements, and many others.
Mastodon founder touts Threads' federation, saying it makes his X rival 'a far more attractive option' | TechCrunch
Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko lauds Threads' entry into the decentralized social media space, saying the move will make Mastodon -- the open source
Threads’ new hashless tags have opened the door for the silliest form of trolling
Threads last week rolled out searchable topic tags, which work like hashtags but have some key differences. They don't start with the # symbol, and they can contain spaces and special characters. In some cases, they may not stand out as obvious tags, which is exactly what makes this trick work.
Coming up
Reviewing European Media's Coverage: The Transformation of Meta's 'Bad Boy' Image
We'll delve into how European media is covering Meta's evolution. Has the tech giant shed its notorious 'bad boy' image in the wake of its new ventures? This segment will explore the nuances of media portrayal and public perception.
Topics vs. Hashtags: Implications for Community Building
What does the shift from hashtags to topics signify for community engagement on social platforms? We'll analyze the impact of this change on Threads and discuss how it might influence the way communities form and interact.
Interpreting Usage Trends: A Temporary Dip or Long-term Decline?
Graphics and statistics showing a decline in Threads usage have surfaced, but do they signify a long-term failure or a mere temporary setback? This section will provide a deeper analysis of these trends and what they could mean for the future of Threads.
Style Checks: Successful Social Patterns by Brands on Threads
Of course, we'll also take a look at how brands are successfully leveraging Threads. From creative patterns to strategic engagements, we'll highlight examples of how brands are making their mark on this new platform.
We Want to Hear from You!
What are your burning questions regarding Threads? Is there a specific topic or feature you'd like us to explore? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit the reply button.
Stitch on,
Daniel
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Crafting term of the day: Pinning - the term is used to hold fabric in place.