Initial Thoughts On Threads

Let’s start by caveating this column with the fact I’m not yet, myself, on Threads. I take more of a wait-and-see approach to new social media sign-ups, over being an early adopter. But I am heavily invested in how it may shape the beauty industry.

Being less about curated content and more of casual conversation, I’m hoping that the text-first format brings astute reviews, amiable discussion, and some spontaneous education to Meta’s aesthetically oriented user base.

So far, I’ve enjoyed seeing how beauty brands are jumping in. Entrepreneur Tina Craig wrote, “Follow @ubeauty for ALLLL my untethered unhinged uncensored thoughts on beauty”, while make-up artist Bobbi Brown asked: “Anyone out there? Have some free time. What beauty questions can I answer for you?”. I sense Threads will encourage brands’ personality to shine more than IG and TikTok do, allowing for further personal-style chat over the corporate-feeling or spon-con.

Still, people will resist their participation. “We need to bully the brands off this app early and often,” is Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz’s view – according to a Glossy article (I couldn’t find it on her Threads profile…).

For me – as a beauty journalist – Threads will become another source for stories. We will quote from, link to, and embed posts – and it’s for this reason I hope many beauty brands adopt an education-first approach.

I know my audience at Harper’s Bazaar is intrigued by the platform too; by far the most-read feature on the website this week is a Threads explainer. Though whether it will generate TikTok-level trend stories within the beauty space is doubtful. Twitter certainly never has. And maybe it will never blow up for us like TikTok and IG given that beauty fans tend to be visually stimulated. But imagery and videos aren’t all that drives them, conversation and community is equally important.

Let’s watch this space. From afar, if not within (yet).