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Meta offically launched Threads on July 6. (It ended up NOT being called Barcelona, after all!) The app has taken the world by storm as it attempts to take Twitter’s now-tenuous position as the “global town square.”

In case you’ve been off-planet for the past few weeks: The Threads app grew insanely fast.

The genius of the launch was the ability to not only sign up directly from your Instagram account but to also quickly follow (and be followed by) the same people you were already connected to on Instagram. This and a few other clever hacks—like the Clubhouse-style sign-up number badges on your Instagram profile—led to Threads hitting 100M users in just 5 days.

This great infographic from Visual Capitalist helps to put that growth in context:

How Threads Works

Threads is focused on sharing text updates and joining public conversations, essentially replicating what Twitter has offered the world since 2006.

The interface is simple and easy to navigate. Here are some of the key features:

• Log in using your Instagram account.

• Posts can be up to 500 characters long. They can also include links, photos, and videos up to 5 minutes in length.

• The app may soon be interoperable, meaning the platform would be compatible with “the open, interoperable social networks that [Meta believes] can shape the future of the internet.” (Here’s a 5-minute primer on what interoperability for social media actually means.)

• More features are coming soon. According to Forbes, the Threads team plan to soon add a “following” feed, an edit button, and the ability to search for posts.

The app seems to have considered leaning into sewing puns as it positions its brand, but the final “Threads Dictionary” draws mostly from existing social media lingo:

Post by @threadsapp View on Threads

Kick Start Your Threads Strategy

As the platform continues to evolve, new features and its unique culture will continue to develop, too. While it may be early to finalize a strategy for your brand, you can start participating NOW and learn as you go.

Here are a few things you can do sooner than later in to start getting up to speed. (Thanks to our colleague Ashley Kruger for collecting and sharing these tips on LinkedIn!)

🧵 Claim your username(s), even if you don't plan to post right away. (If you're established on IG, you can claim the same username and auto-follow the same accounts).

🧵 Start participating by creating posts that trigger interactions (memes, engagement prompts).

🧵 Consider posting content that killed on other platforms to test, then look for patterns that seem to work.

🧵 Reply frequently & thoughtfully, especially to larger accounts in your industry, to hack visibility.

🧵 Don't worry; Twitter isn't dead! Monitor your presence on both platforms and leverage the strengths of each.

Why it Matters

As mentioned above, Threads hopes to not only dethrone Twitter, but to establish itself as the key platform in a potential “interoperable” social media future.

One wrinkle: Twitter may not be the biggest threat. As some have argued, Twitter likely lost its place as the global town square some time ago— to TikTok. With that dynamic in mind, it will be interesting to see how Threads is able to attract the world’s attention (or not).

There is also the fact that while many were excited to sign up, engagement has not been incredibly high so far. There was a quick honeymoon period followed by a cooling off of engagement and even criticism about a lack of key features.

However, it would be foolish to think Threads will go the way of apps like Clubhouse and BeReal (not to mention Google+). With the resources of Meta and the sheer number of potential regular users who have already signed up, it’s a safe bet that engagement will continue to increase.

The Platformer newsletter makes 5 strong arguments for why Threads could “go the distance”:

1. “Threads proved decisively the demand for a new text-based conversation app.”

2. “Threads immediately attracted the high-profile user base that made Twitter so addictive for so long.”

3. “Instagram can serve as a long-term growth driver for Threads.”

4. “Meta still has many other growth levers it can pull,” such as allowing usage via desktop.

5. “Twitter’s deterioration continues to accelerate.” See the haphazard roll-out of the “X” rebranding.

It will be important to keep this in mind as you think about where to put your social media resources in the coming months and years.