ā° 1-SECOND SUMMARY
Instagram released its new Threads app and it seemsā¦ chill
Twitter accused Meta of poaching employees to work on Threads
The FTC has new guidelines around sponsored content
Iām sharing my newsletter growth tips ā but also wrote a dedicated post to dig even deeper!
Ā š» ROADMAP
š² Meta Updates: Threads!
Are you one of the 70M+ who tested Threads this week? If not, why not? (Select European countries that have blocked it notwithstanding.)
New apps are a slam dunk. Engagement is high and expectations are low.
No one expects you to have perfected the platform yet. Everyoneās bumping around, trying to figure it out just like you are. Your only mission this week is to log on and post without overthinking it.
Thereās no strategy required yet. Just vibes.Ā Ā
What You Absolutely Need to Know:
Threads is a new app from the Instagram team for sharing text updates and joining public conversations
You log in using your Instagram account and have the option of a public or private profileĀ
You also have the option of following all the same accounts you follow on Instagram or curating manually š Most people seem to be synching with their Instagram base which means you probably have followers on there already
Your feed includes threads posted by people you follow and recommended content from new creators. Posts are ranked ālightlyā says Adam Mosseri. š The default seems to be seeing everyone whoās currently posting which means thereās a tremendous opportunity for discovery right nowĀ
Posts can be up to 500 characters long and include links, photos (up to 7 in a carousel), and videos (up to 5 minutes in length)
You can share a Threads post to your Instagram Feed or Stories and the Story is clickable back to Threads. š This option is great for Instagram creators who previously shared Twitter screenshots to the Feed
Meta is working on Threads soon being compatible with open, interoperable social networks such as Mastodon and WordPress, allowing added discovery
As of now, there are no DMs, no hashtags and no Explore or Trending section. Itās a V1 work in progress. There are also no ads, something that Mark Zuckerberg says theyāll hold off on until they get to 1B users
Once you log on, you cannot delete your Threads profile. You can deactivate your account, which hides your profile and content; you can set your profile to private; or you can delete individual Thread posts
The Hype Machine: Meta launched its Threads app a day early ā potentially in response to disgruntled Twitter users who faced technical limits and paid policy updates on that platform over the holiday weekend.
The Meta marketing machine kicked into overdrive on Monday as āThreads, an app by Instagram,ā arrived in the iOS App Store with a release date of July 6, 2023. That was followed by a countdown website, Threads.net. And a personalized timer when users searched the term āThreadsā within Instagram.
Adam Mosseri (and likely the entire Instagram team) worked through July 4th, temporarily sharing on his Broadcast Channel that the app was being released even while there was still a "ton more work to do.ā (That message was later deleted.)
Simultaneously, Meta sent select influencers and brands an āearly accessā guide to test Threads, according to Business Insider.Ā Ā
By July 5, the timer had been adjusted to release the app that day at 4pm PT.Ā Once it launched, users were temporarily assigned an early-adopter ācloutā number, which made the rush to join even more intense. (šš¼ number 40,945)
Who Is Threads For? Unhappy Twitter users may be looking for a new place to post but Meta may have less direct competition in mind. The company only needs about 15% of its current 3.8B universe to populate Threads to put it ahead of Twitterās estimated 368M audience.Ā
Meanwhile, early celebrity and creator onboards should help bring fandoms and cultural clout while brands (like Netflix, Peacock and Spotify) will eventually bring ad dollars but for now just lots and lots of memes.
What Is Threads For? That remains to be seen. Originally, it was touted as a āTwitter killerā but at some point the app needs to have a reason for being beyond crushing the competition. Ā Mosseriās referred to it as āan open, civil place for conversation.āĀ
Iād like to see it used as a real-time communication channel used by creators, brands, government institutions, organizations and activists.Ā
But ultimately, itās the people who log on, post and engage daily who create the culture and determine the direction that an app takes.
Right now, the tone is optimistic and humorous. Sort of like a chaotic group chat with people debating pineapple on pizza and which platform has the hottest users. Ā
Should You Be On There: If youāre a creator, marketer, social media manager, publicist, or public figure, yes! You donāt need to be Threads famous, but you should experiment posting organically to the app during this exploratory phase.
Related: Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Threads
š² Twitter Updates:
Twitter temporarily limited unverified users to 600 tweets a day, apparently in an effort āto remove spam and botsā from the platform. āYou must slow down to speed up,ā they wrote in a blog post explaining the policy three days after enforcing the limits.
Twitter announced that Tweetdeck, a power-user dashboard, would soon be available to paid subscribers only. āIn 30 days, users must be Verified to access TweetDeck.āĀ
Twitter quietly reversed a policy that stopped showing tweets to logged-out users and wouldnāt show tweet previews in iMessage. It was a ātemporary emergency measure,ā according to Elon Musk, to address data scraping.Ā
š² TikTok Updates:
TikTok is testing a new music production app in the US called Ripple. Musicians and music enthusiasts were the first to be invited to test the āvirtual recording studioā app. Apply for testing here.
š² YouTube Updates:
YouTube is experimenting with hyperlinked keywords in Comments. Phrases or keywords within comments that encourage exploration (as determined by YouTube) will be hyperlinked. Clicking on a link will initiate a new YouTube search. You canāt add or modify links as a commenter but creators can remove them.Ā
šš» CLICK THRU
š #Ad Is Just the Beginning
The FTC updated its Endorsement Guide regulating a reviewerās relationship to the company whose products are being recommended. Attorney Robert Freund has a great thread on the highlights here but to note:
Almost anything you get for free (including meals, travel, gifts and event access) needs to be disclosed
International creators whose content will be seen by US consumers must comply with FTC's rules
The FTC wants TikTokers to disclose sponsored content using text on screen, not just a written disclosure in the video description
If you go on an influencer trip and are endorsing the brandās products, you need to disclose the sponsored travel arrangements
You should superimpose a disclosure on Snapchat or Instagram Stories if the content is sponsored
ā”ļø Newsletter Growth Tips
I was going to send out a newsletter all about newsletter growth but then Threads happened. So, Iāve split my newsletter in two. Iām including some of my top tips here but would recommend you click through for more growth tips and an in-depth timeline of how the newsletter grew to 10K+ subscribers!
Pick a newsletter platform with a recommendation feature
There are a lot of good email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Hubspot, etc.). What attracted me to Substack was the built-in recommendation feature which enables writers to promote and support one another.Now, other ESPs (email service providers) like ConvertKit and Beehiiv are offering similar recommendation engines to help creators leverage the community aspect of their platforms.
And getting on other peopleās recommendation lists helps a LOT. My newsletter is recommended by 38 other Substack newsletters and Iāve gotten 3,000 subscribers out of those recommendations.Ā
Promote other newsletters and newsletter creatorsĀ
Along with automatic recommendation features, make sure youāre collaborating with other writers and promoting each otherās work. Cross-platform promotion is hard ā itās like getting people on YouTube to follow you on Instagram and vice versa. About 45% of my subscribers have come through other Substack newsletters. People are already there and receptive to the format.Get your newsletter in front of journalists, bloggers, and key tastemakers
As I mentioned, getting included in a ābest ofā round-up was a major goal for me this year. It helps provide social proof, reinforces credibility and increases visibility, all key building blocks of social influence. Being included in Bufferās best marketing newsletters' list in March has driven 548 subscriptions for me so far and is a bragging point Iāve added to my bio.Consistency AND quality is key
Youāre asking for peopleās time and attention on the reg, make it worth their while to click in. As Katelyn Bourgoin recently pointed out, inboxes are getting very crowded. Make sure youāre delivering outstanding value if you want to keeping earning an open from readers. Ā
Thanks to the Hello Arcade team who interviewed me for their Waves podcast ā perfect timing as we talked about how to write newsletters your subscribers will actually open!
š ON YOUR RADAR
Meta is planning to let people in the EU download apps through Facebook, putting it in direct competition with Apple and Google app stores -The Verge
French government could cut off social media during unrest, says Macron -The Guardian
Resso is the ByteDance streaming app thatās quietly going global -Rest of the World
BookTok can make bestsellers. So ByteDance is becoming a publisher -TubeFilter
The highest-paying brands include Walmart, Adobe, Target, McDonald's, and Nike, reveals FYPM 2023 Creator Pricing Benchmark Report -Lindsey GambleĀ
Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney says Bud Light didnāt support her during backlash -AP
Trisha Paytas Called It āDisgustingā And āInhumaneā That Colleen Ballinger Allegedly Sent Her Nude Photos To An Underage Fan -BuzzFeed News
Fans are speculating that beauty influencer Mikayla Nogueiraās wedding was one big branded-content deal -The Cut
@Lia, what do you think about the reason why there is no web app for Threads, just mobile, and why it's not available in Europe
About this very last point, I'm scared that the reason is because the GDPR law in Europe, which would mean that Threads is collecting many personal data
Great issue by the way, as usual. Congrats!
Thanks!
Keen to know your thoughts on how Instagram users, who are encouraged by the algorithm to post visual content (photo and video), will adapt to a text based platform.