Meta’s Threads: A Primer for Lawyers

Threads—a new offering from Meta—has recently exploded in the social media realm. With over 100 million users already on board (and counting!), Threads has surpassed ChatGPT as the fastest-growing online platform and emerged as a Twitter challenger.

As many lawyers know, social media provides enormous potential for law firms seeking to expand their social media presence. Below, we’ll explain how Threads works and how law firms can leverage this new offering to further their online impact.

What is Meta’s Threads?

Meta’s Threads launched on July 5, 2023, allowing Instagram users to share text-driven updates and communicate with other users.

This new platform sounds similar to Twitter, right? So, what’s the difference?

The most obvious difference is the character limits. On Twitter, your posts must contain 280 characters or less, after which you’ll need to post successive comments. On Threads, the limit is upped to 500 characters.

Threads accounts also connect to users’ existing Instagram accounts (for example, if you already have an Instagram account, there is no need to create a new Threads account), whereas Twitter requires that new users create a Twitter account prior to posting Tweets. To that end, it’s easy to join Threads—and even easier if you or your firm are already on Instagram.

Other differences include:

• Free verification system (users do not have to pay for “Verified” status on Threads)
• No paywalls (on Twitter, you’ll have to pay to access certain features)
• Posting content (users can attach up to 10 photos or videos to their posts, while Twitter users are limited to four items per post)
• Enhanced content discovery (not only will you see content from people you follow, but you’ll also get recommendations regarding content you might like)

Remember that Threads is in its “initial” version, meaning that more features—and changes—are likely in the works.

Meta’s Threads vs. Twitter

Threads arrives at an interesting time—namely, after Twitter owner Elon Musk’s announcement that free accounts would be limited to reading 600 Tweets per day. This announcement follows a tumultuous period for the microblogging app, due to ongoing concerns regarding Twitter’s ownership and the future of the platform.

Twitter has taken note of Meta’s Threads—and responded by threatening to bring litigation against Meta for misappropriating trade secrets and intellectual property. While we are yet to see the outcome of this potential litigation, it’s clear that the new app’s popularity is ruffling Twitter’s feathers.

Why lawyers should take note of Meta’s Threads

Like any emerging social media platform or tool, expanding your law firm’s social media presence can help educate the public about your services and drive clients to your firm. With more and more prospective clients looking for legal services online, having a solid social media presence can help expand your reach with clients.

Also, it never hurts to get ahead of the pack—by joining Threads now (via Instagram), you can claim your username and ensure others don’t get to it first (especially if you want to market your firm with a more competitive handle, e.g., “[name of city]lawyer”). And, if you’re already on Instagram, you can easily transfer your Instagram username and profile details so your username stays consistent across different platforms.

Regardless of whether or how much you end up using the platform, consider this simple step an investment in your future social media strategy.

Getting started with Meta’s Threads—for lawyers

If you’re already using Instagram, you can easily get started with Threads with a click. All you have to do is log in to Instagram. From there, you can choose to follow your Instagram contacts, find other accounts to follow, and start posting Threads!

What can lawyers use Meta’s Threads for?

Much like Twitter for lawyers, Threads offers lawyers a great opportunity to connect with like-minded legal professionals and market their services. On this microblogging platform, lawyers can:

• Increase their firm’s online presence;
• Stay up-to-date on the latest legal news; and
• Connect with and learn from other legal professionals.

Social media and ethics for lawyers

While all types of businesses—including law firms—benefit from social media marketing, lawyers can’t lose sight of their ethical obligations and the unique considerations applicable to their social media presence.

Firstly, ensure that you position yourself carefully. You should actively avoid posting any information that others could interpret as legal advice (or take the initiative to add a disclaimer in your public profile or Threads, explicitly stating that your posts should not be interpreted as legal advice). Guide anyone who contacts you (whether current or prospective clients) to appropriate channels for their legal questions. By doing this, you can actively prevent communication loss and prevent prospective clients from misunderstanding the nature of your relationship.

Finally—and this should go without saying—do not share anything on social media that could breach your obligations regarding client confidentiality.

Creating a comprehensive law firm social media policy can help firms outline their expectations regarding responsible social media use. Learn more about creating a law firm social media policy here.

Conclusions on Meta’s Threads

Is Threads the next big thing for your law firm’s social media strategy? With over 100 million subscribers in less than one week of launching, this new social media platform seems poised to take the social media world by storm and rival Twitter’s longstanding hold on microblogging.

Venturing into new social media territory can feel daunting—especially when you already have enough on your plate! However, joining new social media platforms requires little effort and can pay off in terms of getting your firm’s name out there.

Social media provides endless opportunities to publish relevant, engaging, and valuable content advertising your law firm’s services. And, by establishing your firm on new social media platforms, you never know who you’ll attract to your firm.

Like any social media platform, however, it’s important not to lose sight of your obligations to the profession and your clients. If you haven’t already done so, consider creating a law firm social media policy to ensure your team is on the same page regarding appropriate social media conduct.

Keep in mind that Meta’s Threads is not available in the EU yet, which has strict regulatory policies that Threads may not yet be meeting. And, as mentioned above, the threat of impending litigation between Twitter and Threads could have implications for the platform down the line.

At the end of the day, social media is a valuable resource for lawyers—but a solid website lies at the core of any firm’s marketing strategy. And with Clio Grow’s Website builder, it’s never been easier to stake out your digital claim with a polished and professional website.

We published this blog post in July 2023. Last updated: July 24, 2023.

Categorized in: Marketing