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Seen as an attempt to capitalise on demand for a Twitter alternative, Meta may soon take on the likes of Mastodon with its upcoming app.
Meta is working on a decentralised social media platform to provide an alternative app to Twitter and compete with the likes of Mastodon.
In a statement given to multiple media outlets, the company confirmed that it is exploring a “standalone decentralised social network” for sharing text-based content.
“We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said today (10 March).
Codenamed P92, the app will reportedly let users log in using their Instagram credentials, according to Moneycontrol.com which first reported on the story. P92 is currently in development and a launch date is yet to be announced.
The move is seen as Meta trying to capitalise on a growing demand for an alternative to Twitter after Elon Musk took over the social media platform. In the immediate aftermath of the change of guard at Twitter, decentralised platform Mastodon saw a significant surge in interest.
The free and open-source platform tweeted on 30 October that it got more than 70,000 sign-ups on the day after the Twitter deal closed. “Let’s keep the momentum going! The ‘public square’ of the web must not belong to any one person or corporation,” it added.
Other apps that were seen a potential alternatives to Twitter at the time were Discord, CounterSocial, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales’ WT.Social. But none of them, including Mastodon, were really able to take off in the way some had expected.
Now, Meta is hoping to jump into this space and make the most of the interest in decentralised social networking that supports the ActivityPub protocol, making it easier to connect with other instances like Mastodon.
Sources told media outlet Platformer that the project will be overseen by Instagram head Adam Mosseri. However, the decision to use Instagram credentials to log into P92 may prove to be a deterrent to some who may not want to hand over data to yet another Meta-owned app.
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