According to rumors, Meta is developing a cutting-edge alternative to Elon Musk's Twitter. The Meta team is looking towards creating a stand-alone, decentralized social network.
Sources with knowledge of the situation claim that Meta is now planning a strategy for creating a text-based content application that will support ActivityPub, the decentralized social networking protocol that powers Mastodon, a competitor of Twitter.
A Meta spokesperson said:
"We’re exploring a standalone, decentralized social network for sharing text updates… We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests."
The decentralized software will reportedly bear the Instagram logo, and users will be able to access it using their Instagram credentials. While a source has revealed that the app, which has the working title of "P92," is still in the conception or development stages, it is unclear whether this is the case.
The app would presumably offer "tappable links in posts with previews (like Twitter), user profiles, usernames, and verification badges," according to the list of features. Making photographs and videos shareable in the early versions of the app was another idea. Although the like and follow features will be available, it is unknown if the initial version of the product will also provide commenting and messaging capabilities. But someday, they'll all be included.
"The team is also discussing whether to have the ability to reshare content like Twitter apart from business and creator accounts. A rights manager will be integrated from the beginning for first party content, but probably not for third party content from other apps and servers."
Also, the software will be distributed in compliance with the company's current privacy policy. Nevertheless, an "additional privacy policy" and terms of service relevant to the app will also be made available.
Questions have been raised by the new information since it is obvious that Twitter will face competition from it. As an illustration, Elon Musk temporarily forbade Twitter users from publishing their Mastodon profiles in December, which occurred at the same time as demand for Twitter alternatives increased. Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, frequently advocated for the development of a decentralized version of the network due to these and other factors.
There is currently no precise information available about the app's current development phases or its anticipated release date.
