DES MOINES, Iowa — Social media giant Meta officially launched a new social app Wednesday, and it's quickly catching fire.
Called Threads, the app has very similar feel to Twitter and boasts over 70 million users already, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. With its release this week, Threads has some businesses in the Des Moines metro exploring its potential.
Hannah Krause is the owner of Eden, a popular apothecary is Des Moines’ East Village. She said that social media platforms like Instagram help drive up their monthly sales and build awareness for the small business.
“I think you always have to have an open mind to what could make sense,” Krause said. “If it drives your business, your ability to connect with customers, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.”
But with a small, dedicated staff, Eden’s limited resources are primarily focused on Instagram. She believes it wouldn’t make sense for their small business to be on “every emerging social media platform.”
As Instagram and Threads are directly connected, Krause is open to starting a platform on the Threads app. Given how new it is, however, she said it’ll take time for small businesses to learn how useful it can really be.
“If it makes sense for us, I’m happy to explore it,” she said. “We have such a small team that we definitely won’t be the first people on there, but it’s definitely interesting.”
Zuckerberg posted to social media this week saying he wants the platform to become “a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it.” Meanwhile, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino said though Twitter is "often imitated,” its community can "never be duplicated."