Threads and Bluesky: A New Era of Social Networking

POV By Kate McNee, Associate Director, Paid Social and Anne Christensen, Manager, Creative Services Paid Social 

Threads. Bluesky. These days, it seems like each week, there is a new social media platform threatening to kick X (formerly Twitter) to the curb. But what does this mean about the future of social media? Is the social landscape screeching toward the fractured fate of streaming TV? Or is this feeding frenzy just the latest trend? Acronym’s paid and organic social media marketing experts explore ahead.  

Introduction

What are Bluesky and Threads?

Threads is a text-centric social media platform created by Meta. Launched in July 2023, Threads is largely understood to be an alternative to X (formerly Twitter), following changes made to content moderation and other policies after tech mogul Elon Musk’s 2022 acquisition. With seamless integration with Instagram, users can easily log in, follow the same accounts, and share content across both platforms. According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Threads aims to “do what Instagram does best and expand that to text, creating a positive and creative space to express your ideas.” 

Bluesky, launched to the public in February 2023, is another text-centric social platform and alternative to X. Created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky aims (and succeeds) at closely resembling the functionality and aesthetic of pre-Musk Twitter. Bluesky enables users to share short messages, photos, and videos. It emphasizes decentralization, giving users greater control over their data and content moderation, including the ability to create their own custom feeds and exchange messages between servers.    

What are the key features of each platform?

Threads:  

• Instagram Integration: Users must log in with their Instagram accounts to join. 

• Instagram Aesthetic: Threads use much of Instagram’s iconography, including the same heart and user buttons.  

• Text-Based Communication: Users can share up to 500 characters, perfect for precise, succinct communication.  

• Media Sharing: Supports videos up to five minutes long and can include links and photos. 

• Curated & Follower Feeds: The default Feed on Threads shows content “For You” based on content recommendations. The other main Feed prioritizes Follower activity. Recently launched, users can also create custom Feeds based on keywords.  

• Political Filter: By default, like Facebook and Instagram, Threads does not proactively recommend political content users don’t follow. This feature can be disabled in settings.  

Bluesky:  

• New Handle: Users access Bluesky by creating handles with @yourusername.bsky.social. 

• Twitter Aesthetic: Bluesky’s look is a complete call-back to the original Twitter, leveraging the same blue hue. 

• Decentralization: Bluesky functions on a decentralized network, enabling users to connect and share information across various independent servers. 

• User Control and Personalization: Users can customize profiles, manage post visibility, and control their online experience. 

• Follower Focus with Feed Customization: The main two Feeds are “Discover,” which shows trending topics, and “Followers,” which covers content from followers. But users can create their own Feeds. 
  

Who has joined?

Threads famously garnered 5 million sign-ups within four hours of launching. Flash forward to November, and the platform now touts 275 million monthly active users. 

Hop on Threads and you’ll locate the most prominent US brands, from retailers like Walmart and Costco to consumer brands like Nike and Pepsi. Even luxury names such as Gucci, Four Seasons, and Porsche have joined the Threads bandwagon, and are actively posting.  

Bluesky, by contrast, now has close to 25 million users, most of which have arrived after the November 5 election. During the first few days after the election, traffic was up 500% on the platform.  

The biggest presence of companies on Bluesky are news organizations like NPR, PBS, The New York Times and Politico. A number of celebrities have publicly announced their joining. But unlike Threads, no major US brands appear to be on the platform. 

Similar to other micro-blogging platforms like Reddit, both Threads and Bluesky attract art, photography and tech enthusiasts. “PhotographyThreads,” “BookThreads” and “GymThreads” make up some of the most popular tags on Threads. While users report Feeds filled with art, music, animals, and jokes on Bluesky.  

However, there is one major content divide: hard news. Politics and controversial subjects such as censorship and privacy are common on Bluesky, as are discussions on political figures (you guessed it: rhymes with husk and perceived safety issues with the platform). Users discuss “light” topics on both platforms, but controversial conversations are more of the culture on Bluesky.  

Predictions & Recommendations

What is the future? And what does this mean for X?

Threads and Bluesky are hardly the first social platforms in the past decade to generate significant buzz: from Periscope to Clubhouse, several platforms been born, touting to be the next big thing before retreating to niche communities, being acquired, or disappearing entirely.  

The question remains whether these two platforms will garner the same fate – or survive for the long-haul, with one or both either coexisting alongside the predecessor or slowly usurping X fully. 

Scale is in favor of survival. At their peak, Clubhouse and Periscope struggled to surpass 10 million users. Both Threads and Bluesky have already managed to do this, and in quick time frames.  

Yet both platforms face significant – innately opposing – challenges.  

Since its inception, Threads has stated that it will steer clear of conversations about politics or news. Which makes sense, given Meta’s controversies with navigating and moderating hot-button topics.   

Yet this is exactly what has made X the powerhouse it is today. Can Threads thrive alone as a real-time text-based Feed without the immediacy of news? It could, if it is able to own other trend-heavy spaces such as entertainment or sports, but it is limiting. Without the element of real-time conversation, Threads risks becoming a copycat of community spaces like Reddit. Which is fine, so long as it can cultivate a different audience and feeling. Which it could, given its more user-friendly, aesthetic design and light topic appeal.  

For Bluesky, the main issue is monetization. Bluesky has secured Series A funding, but it does not have the kind of capital Threads does with Meta, to help sustain it through the ups and downs of a growing company.  

Further, the lack of a clear path and appetite for advertising makes quick monetization more challenging – several platforms have already tried and struggled to monetize with subscriptions. 97% of Meta’s revenue is created by advertising.  

If Bluesky is to survive, it needs to get very popular and steal share from X – and fast. Or else, find the funding to sustain its heavy moderation goals and regulatory challenges it has been facing.  

For now, X – which still dominates the sports conversation and reached record post counts during the election – is here to stay. If Threads can find its direction, the financial backing of Meta can keep it growing. If Bluesky can create a consistent revenue stream and be seen as a better place for news and politics than X, it might be here to stay. But there is a long road ahead.  

What should brands do?

For brand marketers, we recommend downloading both platforms as individuals to become familiar with the look, feel, and functionality.  

Creating a profile as a brand is a little more complicated. While creating profiles to secure brand handles/domains is valuable, we don’t recommend making them public and not posting on them. On Threads, you can turn your profile into a private one in Settings, but you cannot do this on Bluesky. As such, for brands not ready to post, we only recommend securing a profile for Threads and selecting Private.  

It’s extremely easy to create a Threads profile—all you need to do is download the app, log in with your brand’s Instagram profile, and voila—you’re on Threads.  

On your personal handles (to avoid reacting to something accidentally!), explore what conversations are taking place on both platforms, what brands (particularly your competitors) are posting, and which types of content seem to be resonating. 

Given that the majority of US brands are now on Threads, we recommend brands create a presence if possible. We recommend it, in particular, for brands appealing to fashion, tech, and/or artistic enthusiasts, as these conversations are indexing heavily. We recommend brands wait to create handles on Bluesky until it becomes clearer which spaces on the platform brands should live.  

What do the rise of these apps say about the industry?

Following years of heavy consolidation and powerhouse dominance, we are currently in a swing of democratization and diversification in social media. Both Bluesky and Threads have introduced – to much praise – elements of user control. We are likely to see this trend seep into other platforms. 

Unfortunately, the “new players” of Bluesky and Threads are not truly “new players.” Both are affiliated with extremely successful existing platforms. Still, new spaces help shake up the game and provide needed incentive to meet user priorities, like privacy and AI moderation. The current players will continue to dominate the social sphere for the immediate future, but we may see additional small platforms make a play.  

Video content on social media has been fully maximized between TikTok, Instagram Reels and Snapchat. Are we finally facing video fatigue, and entering the age where text-based engagement dictates the advertising innovation game? Perhaps slightly – and we have already seen an increase in placements of text-based search ads across platforms. But we’ll need to wait and see.  

Have questions or need help navigating these new social platforms? Contact us for expert guidance and support.

Sources:

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/07/introducing-threads-new-app-text-sharing/
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/x-looks-improve-content-moderation/705817/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bluesky-x-twitter-why-are-people-switching-how-to-join/
https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/continuing-our-approach-to-political-content-on-instagram-and-threads
https://bsky.social/about/faq
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/jul/06/meta-launches-twitter-rival-threads-in-100-countries#:~:text=Threads%20app:%20Instagram%20owner’s%20Twitter,first%20hours%20%7C%20Threads%20%7C%20The%20Guardian
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