Threads and the Third Sector
Perhaps as a Communications Executive, I should have known Threads was coming. But when a coworker mentioned it to me last week, my only response was “what on Earth is that?!”
The gradual decline of twitter has been in motion for the past few years, so perhaps it was inevitable that a competitor would step into the gap left behind.
This week, I’ve been reading about Threads and trying to grasp how useful it might be for my role within the third sector and digital spaces.
What is Threads?
It’s a text-based app which operates in a very similar way to Twitter. It’s owned by Facebook, and is heavily integrated with Instagram. It launched in the UK early last week, and it’s taking the internet by storm.
What’s Good about Threads?
When creating a profile, followers from Instagram can carry over to Threads. That means that all of your followers on Instagram who have downloaded Threads will follow your account automatically.
As a Communications Exec, this fills me with relief — building a following on a brand new platform would be a significant amount of work.
It’s got a smooth, clean user experience. Because it’s so similar to platforms we already know, there’s not much of a learning curve for using it.
What’s Not So Good About It?
So far, there’s no ability to schedule posts in advance. However, because it’s an app so closely linked with Facebook and Instagram, I’m optimistic that scheduling could be done through Meta Business Suite eventually.
The biggest problem with Threads is that it’s really inaccessible. There’s no option for images to have alt text, so for someone with a screenreader, they’re impossible to access.
This is very disappointing, as we know that sister-companies Facebook and Instagram have dedicated Accessibility teams. Why not build in accessibility from the start? For more on the access issues of Threads, see Catalina Rivera’s excellent LinkedIn post.
Threads is a mobile-only app at the moment — this means that for many, personal will be bleeding into professional in trying to manage company Threads profiles on their phones.
Is Threads A Good Idea for Third Sector Organisations?
For those who are taking a step back from twitter, Threads is, in my opinion, definitely worth a shot. Especially as someone who has never had much of a twitter presence, I’m embracing this opportunity to build my Threads platform and reach out to others in the sector.
There are ways around its inaccessibility — when posting images, leave space to include ALT text, and follow disabled activists on the platform to make sure they don’t miss out because of the poorly-thought out design.
If you’d like to follow me on Threads, here’s a link to my profile.
If you don’t have Threads yet, perhaps I can be the Threads guinea pig for us all, and keep you updated on how it goes.
