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A Social Media Trend We’re Hoping For in 2024 – Threads Dominating with the Intro of API

A Social Media Trend We're Hoping For in 2024 - Threads Dominating with the Intro of API
A Social Media Trend We’re Hoping For in 2024 – Threads Dominating with the Intro of API

This is the final part of a four-part series on social media trends we’re hoping will take off in 2024. To read part 1, click here – for part 2, click here – for part 3, click here.

To close out our mini-series on social media for the upcoming year, we’d like to focus on last year’s breakout new social network, Threads. Threads launched in July to great fanfare as a rival to Twitter – now known as X. It reached around 105 million users in less than a week – however, since then it has grown rather slowly and hasn’t quite taken its place as the “Twitter killer” it positioned itself to be.

The good news for Meta is that this may be set to change in 2024 with the development and launch of an API. Hinted at by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in October, an API could be just the push Threads needs to truly take off. So let’s explain why a potential API launch for Threads this year could be a huge deal.

First Off, What’s an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It’s a set of rules and protocols which allow different software programs to communicate with one another. APIs are used for various different purposes, but within the context of web development, they play a major role in enabling components of web applications to interact and share data.

For example, there is an application called TweetDeck which uses Twitter’s API to schedule tweets for future publication. You may have used Instagram’s API and not even known it – the various “Instagram Top 9” posts published at the end of each year use this API.

Why is an API a Big Deal?

APIs are huge because they allow for third party development of other apps that tie into the main app’s ecosystem. For Threads specifically, this primarily means the integration of news feeds and other publisher content on the site. Posting this type of content on social networks is made much easier when there are tools like TweetDeck – news agencies can create and post their content to their sites and schedule future posts to social networks, instead of doing posts individually in real-time.

Mosseri’s Concerns

In October of last year, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, in a reply to a Threads post by a technology reporter, confirmed that Meta was working on an API for Threads. However, he also qualified it with a concern, that “it’ll mean a lot more publisher content and not much more creator content”.

This is revealing because it means that the intent behind Threads is to become more than what Twitter ended up being. Twitter was (at one point, anyway) renowned as a place where people could get breaking news in real-time. It shows that the higher-ups at Meta want Threads to be the text equivalent to Instagram. It should become a place for people to share authentic content with one another without getting bogged down in publisher content like you might see on Meta’s other big product, Facebook.

Final Thoughts

Since Mosseri’s post in October, there hasn’t been much news regarding the launch of the Threads API. It seems that Meta is intent on taking its time and making sure that the API is able to be used in accordance with its vision for Threads as a social network.

We, for our part, are more than happy to wait. After all, a text version of Instagram would fill a hole in social networks that Twitter abandoned long ago. Threads may have started off with a bang, but an API should mark the true start of sustainable growth for Meta’s latest social channel.

For All of Your Business Social Media Needs in 2024 and Beyond, Trust the Experts at Pink Dog Digital!

Not sure where to start with your organization’s social media strategy in 2024? Pink Dog Digital can help you make sense of your options! At Pink Dog Digital, we create an online experience that turns users into followers and followers into customers. We can create a customized strategy to meet your needs. 

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