How Meta's Director of Social Uses Threads

Plus, five posts I'm into, what I'm reading, and more.

Hi everyone! Hope we’re doing well! I just got back from New York and, as always, ate some very delicious things. Very good beans at The Four Horsemen! Sesame and scallion pastry at Radio Bakery! Watermelon with fish sauce caramel at Nura! A perfect sesame bagel from Apollo Bagels!

For today’s Logged On we’ve got a quick interview with the Director of Social & Content at Meta all about Threads, and then a fun round up of posts, links, and more. Let’s get into it!

Jeffrey Wisenbaugh, Director of Social & Content at Meta

Rachel Karten: First can you tell me about your current role and any other previous social (or not!) roles you've had?

Jeffrey Wisenbaugh: Hi I’m currently the Director of Social & Content at Meta where I oversee the brand social channels for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Creators, VR (Meta Quest), AR (Ray-Ban Stories) and Metaverse (Horizon Worlds). 

Prior to joining Meta in 2019, I was the Sr. Director, Development & Social Studios at Group Nine Media (NowThis, The Dodo, Thrillist, Seeker), led the Originals & Live Programming team for E! News, was a digital writer and  reporter for Ryan Seacrest Productions and got my social video start on YouTube under the username "KoolJeffrey." (Yes, I know it’s lame.) 

RK: I want to mainly talk Threads with you! How would you describe the strategy on Threads for @threads?

JW: @threads on Threads (so meta…) is all about educating people and bringing the value of Threads to life—a welcoming and creative space for you to express your ideas. Like so many social media managers out there, we see the opportunity to build a new, engaged community from scratch and it’s exciting!

The great team working on @threads are in the app all day making sure we’re staying on top of trends, joining conversations and surfacing interesting moments happening across the app. We hope social media managers, creators and general users follow @threads to quickly learn about new features, see best practices and join in on the overall conversation. 

RK: And what about the @instagram strategy on Threads? How do they differ?

JW: @instagram on Threads is a different story. We’re grabbing that spaghetti and just throwing it at the wall…half kidding. In reality, we really are experimenting. We want to keep that initial Threads excitement—that feeling of community alive—and are sharing things that we think might spark conversation.

We’re engaging with and sharing real-time trends, interacting with our community daily and offering the occasional useful tips and tricks. We plan to evolve our approach based on metrics, follower feedback and how the overall Threads ~vibe~ evolves. 

RK: Now, a month or so in, what do you think "works" on Threads? Specifically for brands.

JW: Finding opportunities to spark a conversation and finding ways your brand can authentically join a conversation are great ways to grow and get discovered on Threads.

Even though we might be logged into a brand account, we try to think and interact as a normal user would and jump into fun conversations as they’re happening. A clever post is great but where the real discovery happens is in the replies. 

RK: What tips would you give to brands that are still finding their footing on the platform?

JW: Follow. Follow. Follow. Because we’re still working on developing the search functionality for Threads (coming soon!), taking the time to see who is active and engaging directly is really important.

We call it going down the rabbit hole—once you discover an account that’s interesting (part of a category or interest connected to your brand), those accounts are typically also following accounts in that same category. From there you can curate an interesting feed that’s active and helps provide a view into the larger conversations happening on Threads. 

And if you feel like you’ve got a hit post on your hands, don’t forget to tap that share button and get it out on your Instagram Feed or story. That’s a great way to engage your current audience on Instagram and drive more engagement back to your account on Threads. 

RK: Any brands you think are taking a cool or interesting approach to Threads?

JW: There have been some really fun and consistent brands out there that have used the conversation format in a really interesting way. Love the @wendys snark, @microsoft has been putting out some deep cuts, @nyxcosmetics has a really strong reply game, and creator @realadamrose has been great since day one of the app.  

RK: What's a post you've done on Threads that you're proud of?

JW: Maybe not the most clever, but during those early days (literally just a few weeks ago…) as we were all trying to figure out the app together we published the first iteration of the Threads Dictionary to help explain how people should be talking about Threads and shared it from @instagram. Having the chance to be a bit cheeky from one of our brands is always a thrill. 

RK: Any features the team is working on that might be helpful for social managers? :)

JW: Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, recently posted about some of the new features the small but mighty Threads team are working on now. I think I’m most excited about an improved search experience, the web version, and multiple account login—will make managing brand pages and your own personal account so much easier. 

RK: Final thoughts?

JW: We’ve sincerely been blown away by the early response and just grateful for the welcoming community that’s on Threads right now. Appreciate everyone embracing a new platform like this (don’t we have enough on our plate already?!) and taking a chance to try new things and putting your brand voice out there. Thank you!

Five Posts I’m Into

Melting with SUNNEI

Click here to watch the slideshow. Really fun, satisfying post from SUNNEI. Announcing swimwear by taking timelapse videos of ice melting and revealing the bathing suit. Love it. Also feel like video slideshows vs Reels can sometimes perform better and be more impactful—just look at Sam Youkilis’ feed.