When used effectively, social media platforms are powerful tools for public conversations to build brand presence and trust. Photo Credit: Adobe stock/pitipat
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta has launched Threads by Instagram, a new
Twitter-like app for sharing text updates (up to 500 characters) and
participating in public discussions. Its recent launch caused a buzz,
drawing over 100 million users within five days and establishing Threads
as the quickest-growing online platform ever. Notably, the social media
app remains inaccessible in the EU due to regulatory considerations.
Lorela Chia, founder and managing director of business events
organiser Gr8 Dreams in Malaysia, said that given that it is still early
days for Threads, and those 100 million users are presumably early
adopters - key multipliers, connectors and influencers for successful
events.
“This is the sort of phenomenon that presents huge opportunities for
organic social activity - promoting events, engaging with fans and
selling more tickets; a strategy which has previously worked well on
Twitter since the early 2010s”, she said. “Like Twitter, Threads is
primarily text-based, making it great for information dissemination,
such as updates and announcements, and interactive conversation.”
But Threads goes beyond tweets. As Chia pointed out, it can create a
series of connected tweets to build a continuous narrative, sharing more
in-depth information and insights. Threads' sequential structure and
organised content can therefore allow for a more coherent storyline and
discussion.
Threads encourages more meaningful interactions and conversations with select audiences in real time, which is great for building brand presence and trust.
Lorela Chia, founder and managing director, Gr8 Dreams
“While TikTok’s short form video format, massive youthful user base
and higher potential for content to go viral is particularly popular
among Gen Z and Millennials, Threads encourages more meaningful
interactions and conversations with select audiences in real time, which
is great for building brand presence and trust,” added Chia.
Sarah Bailey, Singapore-based senior creative director at
Invnt Group, said that in a world-of data-driven social listening,
audience tracking and targeted ads, Threads is currently a simplified
and fun way to get one’s voice across to friends and audiences. Invnt
Group’s mission is to “be the best live brand storytelling agency in the
world”.
“Great for those who love to write, Threads brings a sense of
nostalgia to the youthful Facebook-status or Myspace days that were
driven by honest thoughts and unpolished conversations - the perfect
base for forming communities and driving conversations in an authentic
way,” she said.
This is a big plus for brands who are looking to quickly implement Threads into their communication outreach to share event details, videos under five minutes and links to ticketing platforms in an easy way
Sarah Bailey, senior creative director, Invnt Group
For event professionals, Bailey singled out the fact that when users
sign up for Threads, it automatically syncs to their Instagram account
and they are asked whether they want to follow those that they already
follow on Instagram.
“It can therefore be much quicker to grow your following and you
don’t have to start your community from scratch,” said Bailey. “This is a
big plus for brands who are looking to quickly implement Threads into
their communication outreach to share event details, videos under five
minutes and links to ticketing platforms in an easy way.”
As the platform currently does not support paid advertising, Bailey
said that event professionals stay true to their authentic brand-voice
and need not focus too much on sharing polished, or scheduled content on
Threads.