Preface: I really like the app, I was really excited for it to come out just over a year ago, I followed all of the reporting around it. I want it to be better, but I feel like Instagram is going to have it save Threads from itself in order for things to improve.

The App Itself

Prioritization of Views Over Everything

As a platform, Threads is really focused on the number of views an account gets. That’s the first metric you see on the app when you check your insights, that’s the metric on which you are paid through their bonus program, it pretty much runs the show. The thing about this that is rather annoying, is that they’re not focused on making sure you’re also gaining followers, it’s not a priority of the platform. Despite this, the bonus program requires that you have at least 1,000 followers as one of the requirements to be considered. Why the inconsistency? If following doesn’t matter, why isn’t that reflected in the monetization structure? The focus on views means that people are incentivized to get as much reach as possible through replies.

The thing about replies is simply negative response bias, which states that people are more likely to respond when they have something negative to say. When you prioritize reach and that reach is acquired through replies, negative response bias is your best friend. This leads to content that gets people mad doing well. Threads has tools to help hide the content you don’t want to see with relatively simple muting and blocking of both accounts and words, but that really just leaves you with the next worst thing: annoying content. This is a typical case of following the money: you are incentivizing what you pay money for. Paying money for raw engagement will lead to tapping into negative response bias. This is where many social media platforms go south.

Lack of Prioritization of Community

Again, monetization is not based on interactions or follows, it is solely based on views. There’s really no incentive to build an actual following on the platform outside of initial consideration for the program. It’s all about eyes on the content. On top of that, the For You feed is the default feed and the Following feed is hidden, meaning that you have to know what you’re doing to actually get to the content from people you follow. On top of that, replies from people you follow don’t show up in the following feed, those only show up in for you, meaning that, if you actually want to converse with people you follow, it’s really just going to happen in the for you page.

Control Over the Conversation

While I’ve been really digging into Threads the past few sections, I do really like the features they’re building here. There are just a lot of good ways to actually keep the conversation under control. I just had a post kinda blow up on Threads, getting over 60,000 views in 24 hours, which brought all sorts of people to my replies. I was able to quickly hide comments I didn’t think were productive, which was really helpful. I did, however, find it really tiring and annoying and I wasn’t really having quality interactions with people, I felt.

Fediverse Citizenship

Honestly, I’m going to say I think that Threads is being a decently good citizen of the Fediverse. I think Instagram has adequately recognized its size and the implications of that size when it comes to integrating with the Fediverse. That good citizenship, however, could turn sour quickly. Overall, Threads has done a really good job balancing both the centralized and decentralized nature of the platform, which means that people who don’t know what they’re doing aren’t dumped into the Fediverse without knowing what they’re doing. The network has gotten way more user friendly as of late, but it’s still not comparable to a centralized network in that way. Threads lets people choose their experience, and there has been a big push for accounts to enable Fediverse sharing on the platform so the accounts are getting more accessible.

On the other hand, I think Threads has been too slow to build out the interoperability for those using Fediverse sharing. You still cannot follow Fediverse accounts on Threads, only the other way around, and while you can see and like replies from the Fediverse, you still cannot reply to them. I recognize that they need to be careful as such a large platform, but it really feels like they’re dragging their feet here. I think more communication from the Threads team on the actual roadmap (which I feel has actually gotten a little worse over time) of Fediverse integration features would help alleviate this. Right now it really doesn’t feel like Threads is taking it seriously and are treating it more like a side project that they work on whenever they have a few extra minutes in their day.

Is it Really Safe to Build a Following On?

This is what I’ve really been struggling with the past few months. I’ve been spending a lot of time on Threads over Mastodon recently really trying to get to know the platform and I think the answer to this question really depends on who you are and what you’re trying to accomplish.

The platform is best for raw engagement and platform-level monetization. You’ll definitely get a ton of eyes on your content and Threads will give you a kickback for that engagement, provided you are a big enough account to get invited. Where I think the platform is really struggling is for building a community and actual discussion and it doesn’t feel like Threads is at all interested in accomplishing that.

Who is It For?

Threads, I feel, is for brands, companies, and organizations who need to generate reach. The platform is really good at doing that. If you need eyes on your content, this is where it’s going to do well. If you want to interact with a community, that’s where it’s going to fall short.

Who isn’t It For?

I think Threads is not the platform for people or smaller organizations who are trying to prioritize building a community and fostering conversation. This is the kind of person who is less focused on reach and more focused on real interaction and connection with their following.

What I’m Doing

So I’m going to be pulling back on Threads. I will be using it to help distribute these articles as well as updates about the apps I build, but that’s really it. Most of my personal stuff will be moving back over to Mastodon where I feel I can actually build a more stable community. I’m personally tired of trying to build on top of platforms where I have to worry about what the owners of that platform are doing. I feel like, if I were to continue trying to build more on Threads that I will be stuck and more beholden to what Threads wants than what I want. And I can’t do that. I want my work to be durable. This is why I’m so passionate about building on the Fediverse, because that really feels like the only place where I can build for me and not have to constantly be looking over my shoulder worrying about what the platform is doing. I will still be a consumer of the content, but I will largely no longer be creating on it. I don’t think it’s the platform for that for the kind of thing I’m trying to do here.

What are your thoughts on Threads as a platform? Do you use it? Let me know down in the comments or over on Mastodon (see I’ve even removed it from my sign-off).