Hello Reptile Entrepreneurs, This is a special announcement episode because we have a disturbance in the force. Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram has launched their newest social media app, Threads early. This app is a conversational app which gives priority to text. Anyone who uses Twitter will be familiar with the format.

I will be doing a complete review in the next episode of the Niche Content Creator Pod cast which will be presented here on the Reptile Entrepreneur Podcast. And, yes, that officially makes this a podcast network, but that is just semantics as far as you are concerned. You will be getting your fix of entrepreneurial podcast episodes every Monday. Or, as in this case, an extra episode for breaking news.

Here is the situation. Threads was launched yesterday and, in less than 48 hours has hit 79 million active users making it the fastest growing social media app. This was accomplished by tying it to Instagram and allowing the 2 billion people on Instagram to simply copy their profile to Threads. If you would like to do this just press the hamburger icon in the upper right corner of your Instagram profile screen and the second item in the drop down menu will say Threads. Tap that and then follow the instructions and it will guide you to download the app and set up an account. Unless you feel strongly otherwise, say yes to everything they ask and you will be thrown in the middle of the party. The reason why this has every chance of success is because the app is starting with not only the number of people to hit critical mass, but all these people are already connected. So within 24 hours entire communities were reconstituted and were having fun posting.

The full review will come out on Monday. I want to give it a little bit of time to settle in. But I wanted to do a preliminary analysis today to help you make any decisions.

First of all, this is a conversation based app. If you know Twitter you already have the idea. If you are coming from Instagram then things will be reversed. On Instagram you post an image or video and people may or may not read the caption. Conversations tend to be nonexistent as responses are emojis or three words and done. On Threads, you can post images or videos, but the text comes first. It is designed for you to start conversations, not necessarily put on a show like Instagram, TikTok or Youtube.

So, my initial analysis for the reptile community is this. If you had problems getting on the Reels, TikTok or Shorts bandwagon then this might be a great app for you. If you can share thoughts or strike up conversations then this was made for you. If you are doing great with Reels or short form video then this may not be as important of an event for you Do not jump on just because it is the last thing because this will be a distraction. The best approach is probably in the middle ground. I would suggest joining, trying it out, and then making a decision as to how a conversational app fits into your social media strategy.

The app is basic and the Threads engineers will be adding features at a quick clip. I saw a new one today and I expect them to pop up every couple of days so this is a dynamic situation. And rest assured that no one knows what the proper strategy is here. So everyone is just posting whatever they feel like. It isn’t a bad time to join and just see what comes of it. All you need to know if that you have a 500 character limit and you can post images and up to 5 minutes of video. Other than that there aren’t many rules or expectations.

Now, this is an Instagram app so all the rules regarding sales of animals apply so don’t slip into conducting business on this app. Always send them to your email for those kinds of conversations. But this app does have the potential to provide reach for your business or influencer project. So, especially if you already have an instagram account I encourage you to explore around a bit. I have both a Reptile Entrepreneur Account and a Niche Content Creator account. The Reptile Entrepreneur account will continue talking about starting a business in the Reptile community while the Niche Content Creator account will talk about being an influencer and all the digital marketing and outreach strategies. It is in the Niche account that I will be posting details as to how to use Threads on a daily basis. So, if you wold like to learn while doing, check for the daily post on the Niche Content Creator.

Alright folks, that is the news. Here is your summary

Threads looks like it is going to be a success and worth trying out

The biggest problem with new social media apps is they don’t have a reptile community yet established. Threads already has a reptile community on it so that huge barrier is gone. The part is already going so don’t be too late.

This is a text and conversational app. If this is not your thing then do not feel like you have to have an account. You do not have to be everywhere and if it dilutes your effective outreach on YouTube or TikTok to add Threads to the list then it is not serving you.

If you just never could get with short form video then this may be the perfect thing for your to try. As long as you can strike up conversations online you’ll do well.

And that is your quick fix of information. On Monday you’ll have a complete run down so watch for that. And then you will get regular updates on both he development of the app as well as specific items of interest to us in the reptile community.

Have a good night and I’ll catch up with you soon.