Content Manager at SocialBee
In early 2023, Meta launched a new social media app called Threads which has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms.
The app’s impact was immediate—it surpassed 1 million users in just one hour and now boasts over 200 million users.
We sat down with Etienne Blanc, Product Marketing Manager at Threads, to discuss how the platform came to be, the strategies that drive engagement, and the platform’s future.
Short Summary
- Thread’s “For You” feed shows content tailored to you, based on interactions from your Threads and Instagram account, recent posts, and popular content.
- Regular posts, joining conversations, using relevant tags, and mixing up your content formats can help you grow on Threads.
- Focus on original, timely content that sparks conversation. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy, so keep experimenting.
- Posts need text to be searchable. Mixing media with text boosts engagement and reach.
- Tags help people find your content, but irrelevant ones can hurt your reach. It’s best to use one tag per post.
- Use “Trending Now” to find and join popular discussions (currently U.S. and English only).
- Using third-party apps is fine and won’t affect your post’s performance on Threads.
- Offer unique content on Threads and Instagram to give people a reason to follow you on both.
- Threads now offers insights on your posts and followers, so you can tailor your content better.
- Threads’ mission is to create a welcoming space where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas and building communities.
- Follow @threads, @mosseri, and @zuck on Threads and Instagram for updates and new features.
- Creators like @simuliu and @oldloserinbrooklyn, and brands such as @hoka, @glossier, and @threads are effectively using Threads and can serve as inspiration.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with us today. To start, how did Threads begin, and what was the motivation behind its development?
Threads began in early 2023 when a small team of engineers at Meta saw an opportunity in the public conversation space and decided to build a new app. There was a growing demand for more choices in this area, beyond what was already available.
Operating within Instagram, our nimble team cultivated a startup-like environment, which allowed us to move quickly and innovate. To scale Threads rapidly, we leveraged Instagram’s tech stack, utilizing existing data models, business logic, security features, and server infrastructure.
A startup approach within a company as large as Meta is definitely interesting. It makes sense, though—starting small can often be the best way to move quickly. Plus, leveraging the infrastructure of the Instagram app seems like a smart strategy to get a head start and prioritize innovation. Speaking of infrastructure, how does the algorithm decide what content to recommend on Threads?
In the For You feed, you will see content from profiles you follow as well as recommended posts. What you see in your For You feed is personalized to you based on a number of signals, such as profiles and posts you have interacted with in the past on both Threads and Instagram. We also consider factors like how recently a post was published and how many interactions it has received.
It’s clear that personalizing content feeds is a top priority for you, ensuring users see what’s most relevant to them. For creators looking to find an audience and get the most out of their Threads account, what advice would you give?
There are a few key things creators can do to grow on Threads. First, posting regularly is really important. But it’s not just about posting—engaging with your audience in the replies is just as crucial. You want to show that you’re not just putting content out there but that you’re also part of the conversation.
Jumping into ongoing conversations is another great way to reach more people. When you reply to threads that resonate with you, it helps you connect with a broader audience and might even convert some of them into followers. Also, don’t miss out on trends and cultural moments. Sharing your thoughts on what’s happening in pop culture or current events can really help you connect with what’s on your audience’s mind.
Using tags in your Threads posts is another smart move. It makes your content more discoverable, especially for people searching for specific topics or clicking on a tag from another post. Just make sure the tags are relevant to your content—this helps you reach the right audience.
When it comes to content, focus on what you really want to showcase, but try to make it something that sparks a conversation. And don’t be afraid to mix things up. Experiment with different formats—text, photos, videos, and even polls or voice notes. Some of those formats, like polls and voice notes, aren’t available through the API yet. We are working with our partners to bring parity with the app where it makes sense.
It’s so interesting how being a creator today means being a community builder as much as a content maker. Can you name a few creators and brands that we can look to as examples of how to use Threads?
Certainly! Some creators who are using Threads well include @simuliu and @oldloserinbrooklyn. As for brands, @hoka, @glossier, and of course @threads are all great examples of how to effectively utilize the platform.
Thank you for sharing! This leads me to wonder about brands specifically. How should they approach Threads when it comes to content and community-building strategies?
Brands should approach Threads with a similar mindset as creators, focusing on unique and original content that is authentic, timely, and drives conversation. There is more than one winning strategy, so it’s important for brands to experiment and see what resonates with their audience.
By leveraging insights and measuring success, brands can adapt their approach and optimize their content and community-building strategy over time.
Community engagement seems to be a recurring theme here. How often should Threads users post to keep the conversation going?
Threads is all about maintaining a dynamic conversation. Users should aim to share content regularly while also engaging with their community through replies, quote posts, and tagging topics. It’s not just about posting frequently, but also about being present and responsive to your audience.
So it’s less about how many posts you should share and more about consistent activity—engaging with others, replying, and participating in conversations. Speaking of content, does incorporating images and videos make a tangible difference in your Threads post performance?
Yes, incorporating various media can be an effective strategy. Threads allows up to 500 characters per post, along with photos, videos, GIFs, voice notes, and polls. However, it’s crucial to include text in your posts because posts without text are not discoverable via search and tags.
Successful creators on Threads often use a mix of formats, such as text-only, text with photos, text with videos, and text carousels. The key is to keep your content compelling and authentic, so don’t hesitate to experiment to see what works best for you and your audience.
You previously mentioned using tags as a best practice on Threads, and I want to dive into that a bit more. What role do hashtags (tags) play on Threads, and how do they impact content performance?
Tags link to search results showing posts that contain the same tag (only one tag can be added to a post on Threads). Adding a tag that is relevant to the content in your post may help you reach more people who are interested in that topic specifically, for example, people who tap the tag or use keyword search could discover your content.
However, do not add an irrelevant tag to your post, because engagement with the post and consequently distribution may suffer if your content is shown to audiences who aren’t interested.
Finding the right tags seems crucial. How can users identify popular tags on the platform that align with their content?
You can find timely topics and join conversations using the “Trending Now” feature, which is available on the search page and when scrolling through your “For You” feed on Threads. It’s currently available only in the U.S. and limited to English, but it’s a great way to discover and participate in popular discussions.
On a different note, are there any common mistakes to avoid on Threads?
First, don’t post and ghost! On Threads, it’s really important to not only engage with replies on your threads but also to contribute to ongoing discussions by responding to other users’ posts.
Second, certain things can limit your distribution. We will filter, demote, or limit reach of content if we determine it breaks our policies. If this is done too often, we may temporarily limit recommendations from your profile.
To avoid this, make sure you’re not posting anything that goes against our community guidelines. Also, try to avoid engagement bait—nobody likes posts that trick or pressure them into interacting just to boost engagement. And finally, keep things original. Don’t just repurpose content from elsewhere without adding your own spin or value to it.
“Post and ghost”—I love that phrase! On the topic of things to avoid for the sake of post performance, is link sharing penalized on Threads?
Currently, sharing links won’t affect the distribution of your post.
Similarly, does posting content through a third-party social media scheduling platform impact performance on Threads?
No, posts shared through third-party apps are treated the same as those posted directly through the Threads app or on the web.
That’s great to hear—especially for those who rely on these tools to post across multiple social media platforms. On the topic of cross-platform strategy, what are the best practices for cross-posting between Threads and Instagram?
We recommend giving people a reason to follow you on both platforms, by creating unique and original content that draws them in. You have the option to cross-post a piece of content from Instagram to Threads, but that shouldn’t be your entire content strategy.
Be intentional about what you cross-post and why, and consider jumping into the replies to give your Threads audience a compelling reason to keep engaging.
It’s easy for people to toggle between your Threads and Instagram profiles, which may lead to people who discover you on Threads to follow your Instagram as well, and vice versa.
There are places on Instagram and Facebook where we suggest Threads content (e.g. as a recommendation in Feed). If you are creating content publicly on Threads you may appear in there, allowing people to discover your Threads profile, and subsequently your Instagram.
Example of how Instagram promotes Threads content
That makes sense. It’s important not to just repeat content but to add value across platforms. For example, when you share something from Threads to Instagram, a small tweak like adding extra commentary can keep the content fresh and encourage more engagement.
Or if you post something like a product tutorial on Instagram, showing some behind-the-scenes moments on Threads can offer a fuller picture. That way, your followers have a reason to engage with both posts while still feeling like they’re getting something unique from each platform.
Now, Threads also integrates with the fediverse. Can you share more about what the Fediverse is and how it impacts one’s strategy?
The fediverse is a network of interconnected social media servers from all over the world. Each server on the fediverse can be thought of as an independent platform with its own users, content, and rules. Servers share information with each other to enable people to connect and discover new things across the fediverse.
Meta doesn’t own the fediverse. Threads is just one of many servers that have joined it. The fediverse was created in the early 2000s to give people greater connectivity and community, no matter which app they use. Other platforms that have joined the fediverse include Flipboard, Mastodon, PeerTube, and others.
One way to think about the fediverse is to compare it to email. You can send an email from a Gmail account to a Yahoo account because those services can communicate with each other. Similarly, if you can post from Threads to the fediverse, a person who uses a Mastodon server can follow you and see and interact with your content directly from their server. But unlike email, your fediverse conversations and profile are public and can be shared across servers.
You can think about turning on sharing to the fediverse as a way to easily reach new audiences and expand your communities without having to post from another app.
Note that our Beta experience for sharing to the fediverse is currently only available to Threads profiles in certain areas as we continue to introduce additional features.
That’s an interesting parallel to email. It certainly opens up new possibilities for audience reach. Speaking of future developments, are there any plans to introduce more monetization and advertising options on Threads?
At this time, there are no ads or monetization features on Threads. Our priority is to build consumer value first and foremost, which allows us to explore how to build business value in a way that doesn’t compromise the consumer experience.
This being said, Adam Mosseri (Head of Instagram) recently noted he “would love to do [ads] sooner rather than later.”
Prioritizing the user experience first is a thoughtful approach. Speaking of new features, have there been any recent releases on Threads that users should start utilizing?
Yes, earlier this year, we introduced insights to help people, especially creators, and businesses, better understand their followers and measure the performance of their posts through a range of metrics about their content, including the number of views, replies, reposts, and quotes on posts.
They can also see the evolution of their follower count over time and the demographics of their followers – including their age, gender, and locations. These metrics can help creators and businesses figure out what content resonates best with their audience, and help them tailor future posts accordingly.
That’s an exciting development. As we wrap up, can you share what the future holds for Threads?
We believe everyone has something worth saying, and with Threads, we want to create a welcoming place where they feel comfortable sharing it; a place where users can connect with people over shared interests, voice opinions and different points of view, and engage in conversations with others – ultimately building communities. Our mission is to inspire ideas that bring people together.
For those eager to stay informed about new features and updates, where can they turn?
Wrapping up
A big thank you to Etienne Blanc for sharing his insights with us today. I think we all have a much better understanding of how to get the most out of Threads now.
Threads is shaping up to be more than just another social media app—it’s a place where real conversations happen, and communities form around shared interests.
As the platform continues to grow, it’s clear they’re all about creating a space where users, whether they’re creators, brands, or just people looking to chat, can connect in meaningful ways.
Did you join Threads yet?
