Threads We Continue To Spin 2024
And Back to Business - What Should Our Company Do with Threads?
8 AM dawns in Berlin | New York's early hours at 2 AM | LA holds onto the evening at 11 PM
Hello, everybody – this is Daniel writing, for the first time directly from our new digital home powered by Ghost. The move went smoothly, without any problems or broken glass. However, since the electrician hasn’t activated the power yet, I wrote this issue on Ghost but had to send it out on Substack. Bummer. While unboxing our past issues and organizing them around the topics we'll cover this year, I realized that Threads and decentralized platforms will play a central role in the upcoming months in the development of social media.
Another observation: In terms of news, it's been suspiciously quiet around Threads and the players in the Fediverse in the last seven days. It wouldn't surprise me if a major update is on the horizon in the next two weeks.
What's Inside This Issue: We are using this interim period to summarize our past learnings with a focus on the questions that will be important in 2024. This will lay the groundwork for successfully managing our personal or brand presence on Threads.
📅 Fundraiser: 1/5 Paid Annual Subscriptions
With the transition from Substack to Ghost, we now incur a monthly hosting fee. However, this fee will also contribute to the planned development of our knowledge base.
We rely on your support to maintain a platform-independent newsletter that is free and accessible to everyone. We are currently in need of 4 additional subscribers on an annual plan to cover all Ghost-related costs for the entire year.
Threads We Continue To Spin 2024
💬 "Previously on Style & Stitches"
As we navigate our way through 2024, the intricate tapestry of social media continues to unfold in complex and fascinating patterns. At the core of this digital fabric is Threads, a platform that has seamlessly woven itself into the daily lives of users and brands alike. In this year's edition of "Threads We Will Continue to Spin," we delve into the intricate interplay between technology and humanity, exploring how Threads maintains its relevance in our constantly evolving online tapestry.
In this issue, we unravel the threads of connection between key stakeholders in the social media realm. From the dynamic relationship between users and Threads to the strategic moves of industry giants, we examine the relationships that shape our digital experiences. Through the eye of a needle, we focus on the emerging patterns from these interactions, predicting how they will continue to evolve and influence the warp and weft of social media's future.
1️⃣ User & Threads: Will Threads become a integral part of the daily online routine for a significant large group of social media users? 🧵 This is the central question in the coming months. However, users must also find a relevant use case for it to happen. It took Twitter four years to achieve this (See: The Run of Calling Threads a Failure). Yet, as word spreads that the algorithm is connecting previously unconnected individuals with similar favorite topics, there are indications that Threads could become a staple in the social media world more quickly.
2️⃣ Threads & Meta: The role of Threads within Meta's broader strategy is the most intriguing question for this year 🧵. Two things have become evident in the past weeks: After Meta raised incredibly high expectations for the Metaverse at the beginning of last year, it followed a year of cost-cutting and downsizing. Instead of the Metaverse, the industry was buzzing about AI. The introduction of Threads was a quick win for Meta (see Theads — How it started, how it's evolving).
The development was swift and cost-effective, thanks to Meta's proprietary infrastructure. The successful launch unexpectedly overshadowed that of ChatGPT, allowing Meta to present a success story to shareholders and the public last year. This gave the company the opportunity to redirect focus, resources, and strategies behind the scenes from the Metaverse towards AI development.
However, Threads remains interesting for Meta in the medium term as well. Meta owns 3 out of the top 5 platforms with more than one billion users. Securing top spots in the first tier means the next best seats are in the second tier, the 500 million user league. Spotify, Snapchat, Netflix, Candy Crush are in the lead...no social network, no Meta App. Threads has the potential to surpass X/Twitter's user base (300 million, declining) and take a leading spot in this group - a significant win for Meta's role in online advertising (See: (See: The Measurement of the Microblogosphere).
Mark Zuckerberg sees the potential for Threads to reach 1 billion active users. This suggests that Threads' impact on the company's position in the social media market could play a more significant role in Meta's future, as we anticipate. We expect Threads to connect with the Fediverse this year. Zuckerberg has predicted the beginning of new eras in social media multiple times. If he is correct about social media entering a decentralized era, Threads becomes a crucial key component in Meta's strategy to maintain its major position in the social media landscape.
3️⃣ Meta & Twitter/X: Both companies could not be more different, but the relationship between them will play a central role in the future of Threads when Meta enters the advertising business with Threads — see: Unraveling the Yarns on Threads as X/Twitter Killer App: "It’s all about advertising. Meta has already done its homework. They've set up an environment that is, with a positivity approach, way more advertising-friendly than it ever was at Twitter’s best times, amidst all the breaking news, discussions about politics, and society 📊💼. If Meta succeeds with Threads, it becomes that place advertisers are striving for, and one moment later, they own the advertising business in the microblogging sphere 🌐🏆."
When Meta enters the advertising business with Threads, Threads becomes, in the truest sense of the word, the killer app for X/Twitter 🧵
4️⃣ Twitter/X & Mark Zuckerberg: Mark Zuckerberg tried to buy Twitter twice, once in 2008 and once in 2011/12. He viewed Twitter as a potential threat to Facebook and wanted to either integrate it or shut it down. However, Twitter co-founders Ev Williams and Biz Stone rejected his offers because they believed in the future of Twitter and did not want to work for Zuckerberg. They also expressed concerns about the culture and values of Facebook. In this regard, not only Zuckerberg might be surprised that Elon Musk managed to become the new owner.
With the launch of Threads, Zuckerberg has not held back his opinion on X/Twitter. He has turned the tables and, for the sake of success, presents himself as the advocate of values that the founders did not see in him.
Zuckerberg wrote: “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1bn+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully, we will.”
He indicated in a Threads exchange that Twitter had not reached its potential because it had not been a friendly experience for users.
Twitter had not "nailed" its opportunity to become a mega app: "The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands. I think it’s possible and will ultimately be the key to its success," he wrote. "That’s one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently."
Does Zuckerberg really believe in such a large market for a text-based conversation app, or does his rejection by the Twitter founders also play a role? 🧵
5️⃣ Mark Zuckerberg & Elon Musk: Perhaps he just wants to show Elon Musk. Their rivalry is characterized more by their differing visions and occasional public disagreements than by a direct personal or business feud - so far. But with Threads starting to engage in the microblogging sphere as a new player, partnering up with the Fediverse, and ready for the battle of Ad Revenue, Mark Zuckerberg is pushing this rivalry to a new and more personal level - it's all about the business. Zuckerberg & Musk are the contenders in the competition over whether Threads will be Twitter's Killer App 🧵 Zuckerberg won Round 1, in starting Threads successfully. Next up: Who will be faster? Will many social media users become loyal users of Threads? Or can Elon Musk fulfill his dream of turning X into an everything app that everyone will love?
6️⃣ Elon Musk & Fediverse: Building the everything app and defending X/Twitter's position in the microblogosphere is the challenge he has to undertake. Musk has to make an essential decision: with or without supporting the Fediverse 🧵 When X/Twitter has restored some of the accounts that were previously banned or suspended by Twitter, such as Donald Trump, Alex Jones, and Milo Yiannopoulos, this has motivated long-time users to quit the platform and join Fediverse platforms like Mastodon. They are based on ActivityPub, a protocol that offers mechanisms to deal with abuse and harassment, such as blocking, reporting, and moderating. If X supports ActivityPub, it may face more pressure and scrutiny from the Fediverse community and regulators to moderate its content and users. In the end, it is very unlikely that Elon Musk will join the Fediverse - even if Threads is doing it.
7️⃣ Fediverse & Media: This is a new relationship we are putting on our radar this year. So far, the Fediverse hasn't received broader attention from the media. This will change completely this year 🧵. Even its biggest Twitter challenger, Mastodon, was labeled as too nerdy by tech outlets. But with Meta's announcement to join the Fediverse and to bet on a decentralized future of social media, the relationship with media will become more intense. But it's not only about portraying the Fediverse; the media will realize it is also all about engaging with it. They will play a more self-determined role in social media, but decentralized platforms will be unavoidable for the media landscape (See: Unraveling the Yarns on Fediverse — a quick introduction in the lower part of the newsletter).
8️⃣ Media & Social Media: With proper media coverage and Threads' access to the Fediverse, it becomes mainstream-friendly and leads into a future where social media might be decentralized 🧵. This outlook brings a shining perspective to the relationship between media and social media. Twelve months ago, the triumph of "For You" algorithms brought a loss of values to the followerships of media brands built up over years, which are essential to build, reach, and leverage an audience crucial for one's digital strategy. Even two months ago, when the decreasing traffic from social media to journalistic websites was discussed, an improvement in the relationship between media and social media seemed unthinkable. Now we face a scenario that even solves problems that have been with us for years: in the decentralized social web, media are no longer dependent on platform operators. They play on an equal footing.
9️⃣ Social Media & User: Last week (The Art of Sharing), we discussed that despite the trend of sharing less publicly on Facebook, X/Twitter, or Instagram, moving it into private chats or groups, we see a comeback of public sharing on Threads because it enables the establishment of communities around favorite topics. If users also embrace the content moderation tools of the Fediverse and are less dependent on platform moderation decisions, we might see a better standing of classic social networks compared to messengers. But we have to see how current powers spreading hate and lies are going to adapt to this new social media landscape.
With this ninth relationship, we put our focus on 2024, closing the circle with social media users on our first relationship between users and Threads. As you can see, Threads and decentralized social media are bringing us right into the middle of the development of social media. I can't wait to see how all relationships are going to evolve in the end.
So, let's restock all the yarn and fabric, spin the Threads, and stay close to all things with Style & Stitches—the Future of Connecting us and our Audiences.
100 Things To Do on Threads
Counter: 109. On our way to 200 subscribers, we release with every new subscriber one of a hundred answers to the most asked question on Threads: "Okay, I managed to sign up, here I am - but what do I do next?"
#8 Follow @one37pm on Threads: Gary Vee’s Gen Z and millennial media company known for amazing content on Threads. It's entertainment and an ongoing class on Gen Z.
#9 Develop a strategy for your account. Last week, we focused on setting up a new Threads account and your first posting. But before we're ready to engage, we need a strategy for Threads. It's a big word, we know. But even for a personal account, you need a plan to get a good experience on Threads. In today's Community Knitting segment, we talk about the first steps for companies. In our next issue this week, we will check how international brands found their voice on Threads, explore how Mark Zuckerberg is performing as a Corporate Influencer, and present you with a Community Knitting segment with all you need to know to weave a solid personal or brand strategy.
Community Knitting: Back to Business - What Should Our Company Do with Threads?
Threads is in its second month in Europe, the holidays have passed, and the last vacationers are back to their routines. At this point, social media managers in companies and organizations must address the question: Okay, and how do we deal with Threads?
If your brand or organization has a consumer focus and a well-established social media strategy for Instagram, Facebook, X/Twitter, or even TikTok, expanding to Threads should be discussed in a brief meeting to address the key questions:
1.) Who is our target audience?
2.) What need do we satisfy that makes the target audience follow us?
3.) What is our primary goal - what do we want to achieve with this channel?
4.) What metrics on the platform are our secondary goals that support us in reaching the primary goal?
5.) What do we post?
6.) How is our community building structured?
7.) What is our growth strategy?
Even if we still need to develop a sense of the actual audience reached on Threads and the tone our brand can use to address them, only the question of resources might be an obstacle. But we will address that in a few days.
Now, let's look at companies or institutions targeting a niche audience, business partners, or other stakeholders with their social media channels. In my exchange with the first hundred subscribers, I heard here and there the desire for Threads to enable lost communication goals of Twitter — from being picked up in current coverage, focusing on employer branding or corporate influencer promotion to engaging with a professional community.
The beauty is: Experimentation is encouraged. Since we are all still getting accustomed to Threads, we can try out old concepts anew, test discarded ideas again, or venture into something entirely new. Because in the worst case, not only does it not work, but our concept also shapes the use of Threads.
For the decision-making process on how your business should handle Threads, here are three suggestions when considering the potential audience and their needs on Threads and how you present an offer to achieve a specific communicative goal:
1️⃣ Even though we still often see it on X/Twitter and in traditional newsletters, these channels do not function as distributors of press releases. They are communication spaces, not broadcasting media. Threads is explicitly a conversation app, and conversations work there.
2️⃣ So, when thinking towards the community, the choice of the target audience is essential. Keep in mind: Politics and media have surprisingly sought an alternative in Bluesky in the last six months. The potential target audience will initially resemble the current Instagram group.
3️⃣ We have already seen how well Threads brings users together with a good thematic focus. This should play a role in the conception: What is the main theme, and what are the sub-themes we play for our community? About which topics can we expand our community in the second step? What topics are relevant to the part of our target audience not yet connected to us?
What's your most important question about Threads or decentralized social media? Let me know, and I'll add it to our coverage radar. We'll stitch together information and thoughts into a solid answer and feature it in our Community Knitting series.
Check out all the questions in our Digital Newsroom, vote for them, add yours, or use the comment section below on the web. Via email, just hit the reply button.
Meta's Roadmap to the Fediverse 2024
A quick Fediverse update. Missed our introduction?
As a contribution to one of our recent Style Check reviews (Clash of Cultures or Simply a Work Meeting Between Meta and the Fediverse). we gained insights from the public notes of attendee Johannes Ernst from the Data Dialogue between Meta and Fediverse representatives. Meanwhile, entrepreneur and technologist Tom Coates published another noteworthy report on his blog, plasticbag.org.
Here's what we've learned. Meta’s roadmap for Threads integration with the Fediverse is as follows:
December 2023: Threads users can opt to make their posts visible on Mastodon clients, but not the other way around
Early 2024 (Part 1): Like counts will be combined between Mastodon and Threads users
Early 2024 (Part 2): Replies to posts sent via Mastodon servers will be visible on Threads
Late 2024: A mixed Fediverse and Threads experience where users can follow, reply, and like each other across platforms
TBD: Full interoperability between Threads and Mastodon
Author Tom Coates gives some feedback and suggestions to Meta, such as:
Making Threads more accessible and user-friendly for non-tech savvy people
Providing more transparency and control over data and privacy
Supporting more features and functionalities of the Fediverse, such as groups, hashtags, and media
Collaborating with other Fediverse projects and developers
His summary supports our optimistic outlook for the role of decentralized media this year.
What's new?
Threads shows signs of integrating Instagram DMs (APK teardown) (Android Authority)
What do Threads, Mastodon, and hospital records have in common? (Ars Technica)
„Derzeit gibt es keine Alternative“: Stadt Frankfurt bleibt bei „X“ (Frankfurter Neue Presse)
Ich wollte über kandierte Äpfel reden. Sie vertrieben mich mit ihren Wassermelonen (Welt)
Pourquoi Threads peine à devenir le nouveau Twitter (Le Soir)
News publishers hesitate to commit to investing more into Threads next year despite growing engagement (Digiday)
Coming up
Two questions are immediately on the table: How do successful brands and well-known individuals use Threads, and how can we improve the bio in our Threads profile? That's what we'll be focusing on next. All our upcoming stories are listed in our Style & Stitches Digital Newsroom. If you're eager to see your favorites, go ahead and cast your votes ✅.
Stitch on,
Daniel 🧵
If you enjoyed this newsletter, I'd be thrilled if you could give me a shoutout to your social media besties! Forward this Mail or share the URL of the web edition directly.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, thanks for reading! Why not enjoy the convenience of getting the next issue delivered directly to your inbox?
Craftingterm of the Day: Threaded Insight. This term encapsulates the idea of weaving together insightful information and discussions around Threads and dezentralized Social Media into a coherent and interconnected narrative to level-up our Social Media game.
From Europe with ❤️