Seismic Social Shifts: Threads Released, Twitter Rebranded to X

Melissa Ross
Digital Content Producer

Seismic Social Shifts: Threads Released, Twitter Rebranded to X

Social media news has been unrelenting this month, with a few major shifts in top platforms. It turns out that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are not only thinking of squaring off in a cage match, but also going head-to-head with their respective social media platforms. 

On July 5, Meta released their new app called Threads, a platform used for sharing text-only posts and joining public conversations. Although Threads is paired with your Instagram account, it is a totally different space for sharing real-time updates and participating in conversations within…you guessed it…threads. Instagram’s chief, Adam Mosseri, referred to Threads as a more positive “public square” for communities “that never really embraced Twitter.”

But the goal for Meta is not to be another Twitter. Threads is meant to be a hangout space for lifestyle brands and influencers, not a place to stay informed and get information. 

 

 

Post by @mosseri
View on Threads

 


According to Reuters, if Threads manages to retain users, it could achieve $5 billion in annual ad revenue, equaling what Twitter earned in 2021. This could be possible. Threads has not yet released in Europe has yet to enable the advertising portion of the platform. 

Within the first week, over 100 million users signed up for Threads, making it the fastest growing app in history. According to Similarweb, a data company, web traffic to Twitter was down 5% during the first two full days Threads was generally available compared to the same days the previous week. The company said Twitter’s web traffic is down 11% compared with the same days in 2022.

But hold on a second, Twitter is no more. Sorry. We should have said, “X.” 

That’s right. Soon after the launch of Threads, Elon Musk announced that Twitter is officially rebranding itself to “X,” stripping its platform of the iconic bird logo and branding…although their official account seems to not be able to change its handle from @twitter to @X.

 

This change is the latest in what seems to be yet another unforeseen radical change to the platform since Musk’s takeover. For example, the platform formerly known as Twitter recently announced it was limiting the number of daily direct messages unverified users can send in what it said is part of an effort to reduce spam. If users want to increase the number of daily messages allowed, they have to join the subscription service launched last year. Additionally, it limited the amount of tweets non-subscribers could see and barred unregistered users from even viewing Tweets. 

Also a recent change: You have to pay for the verification subscription to run ads on the platform. 

A combination of these changes could be why Musk said recently that Twitter/X advertising revenue has seen a 50% decrease, although he did not specify what time frame he was referring to. 

While Threads does look similar to Twitter/X, we’ve noticed a few differences. First, the search experience is limited to finding accounts, meaning users no longer have the ability to find people’s posts or search by topic. There is no trending page (making it impossible to see what issues are dominating the discourse and partaking in those conversations), and there are no direct messages. However, according to Mosseri, some of these features are in the works. 

So, what do you think? Is Threads where the tides are going or is Twitter…err, we mean X…going to be a new and improved Twitter? We can’t wait to see. But keep following along and we’re sure to discuss it!

Trending from G/L: McDonald’s delivers fabled famous Szechuan sauce to Rick and Morty fans

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Trending from G/L: McDonald’s delivers fabled famous Szechuan sauce to Rick and Morty fans

Free earned media. It’s the crown jewel of the marketing world. And it really doesn’t get much better than the McDonald’s-Rick and Morty-Szechuan-Sauce story that’s unfolded.

Image via Justin Roiland

The SparkNotes summary: Hit TV show with a dedicated following, Rick and Morty, referenced an old sauce that McDonald’s once served years ago as part of a tie-in with the 1998 Disney release of Mulan. Fans then became wildly curious about the sauce that had been discontinued nearly 20 years before, with even some McDonald’s higher-ups chiming in about its fabled existence.

It became a viral joke that had the McDonald’s name attached to it at every corner. And of course, they played along. But, they did it in such a natural way that fans, consumers and the like weren’t turned off by it becoming too much of a marketing grab.

In advance of the premiere of the new season of Rick and Morty, McDonald’s sent Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland a bottle of that now-infamous Szechuan sauce, complete with hilarious description and label that played right along with the show. Justin Roiland’s tweet of the bottle and its packaging has, to date, garnered 141,781 retweets and 339,146 likes!

Image via Justin Roiland

But the pursuit of earned media like this almost never yields such incredible results. So what was the difference? Simple: McDonald’s never overplayed their hand. They just played along. And that’s a very big distinction.

Instead of latching onto the sudden and unexpected conversation around their decades old sauce, McDonald’s did no more than what felt natural. They didn’t milk it for some tired, multi-month campaign. Or try to turn it into a hashtag. Or any of the other marketing gimmicks that consumers now roll their eyes at. They put some effort into creating the packaging and remaking the sauce, and then let the internet do its thing. It’s no coincidence that, while they later released a few more bottles to fans via branded posts, the most viral post wasn’t even theirs. They just sent the bottle to Justin Roiland and trusted that his tweet, free of corporate hashtags and paid promotions, would do the rest. And they were right.

It’s an important lesson in an age where brands haphazardly try to insert themselves into the conversation. Don’t overstep your role as a brand. Just play along.

Geile/Leon’s Halloween Costume Challenge

Geile/Leon Marketing Communications

Geile/Leon’s Halloween Costume Challenge

At G/L, we are serious about getting into the spirit for Halloween. In addition to booby-trapping the office with faux severed limbs and a candy bowl that terrorizes anyone who dares to sneak a Hershey’s Bar, each year we select a theme and show up to work dressed up in our own costumes. Some are clever, some are cute and some are just plain weird. This year we’d like to challenge our creatively-minded partners to participate in the festivities. (more…)

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