Potential Twitter competitor, Meta’s Threads, to debut Thursday as new social media, marketing opportunity

A new social media platform and Twitter alternative will debut tomorrow from Meta Platforms Inc, according to the Associated Press. 

The app will be called Threads and will be linked to users’ Instagram accounts, the news outlet reported.

A description in the app store notes that Threads is a “text-based conversation app” where “communities come together.”

Social media platforms are a key marketing tool for senior living communities. In a 2017 report from the Conversation Research Institute, data showed that consumers use social media channels to discuss senior living options, though community websites and search engines had the most impact during the decision-making process.

Post-pandemic, there was a rise of older “granfluencers” on social media, although older adults themselves use Facebook and YouTube far more than other platforms, McKnight’s Senior Living previously reported.

“Generally, there are not a ton of seniors on Twitter,” said Courtney Malengo, the founder of strategic consultancy Spark + Buzz Communications. “Facebook is still their predominant platform.”

One study from just before the pandemic showed that 40% of adults aged 65 or more years use at least one social media site and almost one fourth of baby boomers use social media to look up information on brands or products. 

For senior living communities and partner companies such as vendors, Twitter can be useful to communicate company news or reach out to the media, Malengo said, adding that in senior living, an organization’s Twitter followers often are those with a connection such as a friend or family member within the company.

The news about Threads comes following a number of changes to Twitter’s platform, including a requirement that only verified users can use the TweetDeck tool.

Although Twitter’s new subscription-based options have constituted a major change to the platform, paying social media companies for advertising services is not a new phenomenon.

Although Threads has yet to prove itself as a platform, its connection to Instagram may foster easy adoption for organizations, Malengo said.