Business leaders should opt for simplicity and track where their customers are when making choices about platforms.
THE social media landscape is getting a much-needed shake-up.
Facebook owner Meta launched Threads in July, its rival to the Elon Musk-controlled Twitter.
This was soon followed by a surprise rebrand of Twitter to X.
And, of course, since the launch of ChatGPT in February, generative AI tools are drastically changing the way social media content is created.
So, what do business leaders need to know about the current state of social media?
Threads
Threads was crowned the fastest growing social media platform of all time, gaining 100 million followers in just five days. It has lost some steam since then.
Like X, Threads is text and conversation-based and is being billed by Meta as a place for “communities to come together”.
However, in contrast to newer platforms like TikTok, which is the definitive source to engage with Gen Z, it’s still yet to be seen who exactly Threads is for.
As the name implies, Threads leverages one of the increasingly popular uses of X – threads, which are a series of connected posts (or tweets, or whatever a tweet is now called on X).
Threads allow for more engagement, discussion and deeper exploration of a topic beyond the original 140 characters of a single tweet.
According to social media expert Kasia McNaught, Threads’ early success is largely because it is “piggybacked” on Instagram, another Meta-owned platform.
“Threads connects to your Instagram account and will automatically find your existing followers,” says Ms McNaught, who runs Perth-based social media marketing agency McNaught Media.
“It’s all the same people but on a different platform.”
So, it’s easy for businesses to get on to Threads without having to spend time building a following on yet another platform.
However, Ms McNaught warns that getting off Threads is another story.
Many businesses have been surprised to find out that deleting a Threads account will also result in your original Instagram account being deleted, she says.
Despite Meta’s retention strategy, Threads’ daily active users have dropped by 80 per cent, Ms McNaught says.
However, it is still a really great time for businesses to get on to the new platform because it is still being rolled out in other countries, which means there is still opportunity for massive growth, especially for those who have had a head start on the platform, she says.
X factor?
So, should you give up on Twitter and move to Threads?
“X is very much not dead and still has over 100 million users,” Ms McNaught says.
Even though many are bemused by the sudden rebrand of Twitter to X, Ms McNaught says it’s been getting the platform all sorts of publicity, which is bringing new life to the 17-year-old entity.
While X has remained largely the same since its launch, Mr Musk has plans to turn it into an “everything app” that goes well beyond text-based social sharing to payments and shopping and video.
In other words, making it much more like China’s WeChat, which is a part of everyday life.
As far as what platforms to move to, or away from, the best social media advice I’ve been given is to go for simplicity.
Pick the two platforms your customers use most and do a really good job there.
Generative AI
What about generative AI like ChatGPT?
While social media has been part of everyday life for at least 10 years, generative AI only exploded into the mainstream in the past six months, disrupting everything, including social media.
While Ms McNaught acknowledges there are valid concerns about the evolution of AI and its potential, she just sees it as a helpful tool, especially for small businesses.
“For example, when I’m putting together presentations or new social posts and I just want to structure a framework to get started, and I can get that from generative AI,” she says.
For many people, she says, especially those who are neurodivergent, getting started can be the hardest part, and tools like ChatGPT are a way to bypass that problem.
“You have to actually constantly educate it and the more you input, the better quality you’ll get,” Ms McNaught says.
“I find if you just use what it spits out generically, it’s just not the quality at all of what you get from a person.
“It will always take work to get quality, original content.
“Tools like ChatGPT just help lighten the workload.”
• Dr Kate Raynes-Goldie is a cultural anthropologist specialising in human communication, innovation and AI. She is also a keynote speaker, Certified LEGO® Serious Play® Facilitator and the creator of SUPERCONNECT®
