Meta is planning to launch a standalone text-based content app. That will support ActivityPub, which we can use to run Mastodon and other federated apps. The sources privy to the development Moneycontrol reported.
According to the report, the parent firm of Facebook and Instagram is mulling to create an app. Like Instagram which will allow users to register/login into the app through their Instagram credentials. The sources told Moneycontrol.
Meta Plans To Compete With Twitter
Meta Platforms Inc is exploring plans to launch. A new social media app in its bid to displace Twitter as the world’s “digital town square”.
Meta’s app will be based on a decentralised framework like Mastodon. A Twitter-like service that was launched in 2016 and now has about 2 million monthly active users.
“We’re exploring a standalone decentralised social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space. There the creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.” a Meta” spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.
It was not immediately clear when Meta would roll out the new app. Meta, which saw a user growth boom after the acquisition of Instagram. Also, WhatsApp in the early 2010s has of late faced intense competition from the Chinese short-video app TikTok.
Meta’s monthly active users for its family of apps grew by 4.2% in the December 2022 quarter. It compared with 8.8% growth a year earlier.
The New Platform will be Decentralised
Meta is planning to decentralise the platform, unlike Instagram and Facebook. It means users will be able to create their servers or communities with their own rules. It will also allow third-party apps to build the platform.
“The plan as of now is that the MVP (minimum viable product) will allow our users to broadcast posts to people on other servers. It may or may not enable our users to follow. Also, view the content of people on other servers,” a source close to the development has revealed.
Musk mocks Meta as ‘copycat’ for planning to launch Twitter-rival
Elon Musk says Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a copycat. He said it after reports of the company working on a Twitter competitor surfaced on the internet.
Looks like Elon Musk is not someone who looks forward to having some healthy competition. Even he stopped Twitter’s free API access to developers and converted it into a paid service instead.
After taking over Twitter, he had also reportedly suspended its Indian rival, Koo’s account from the platform. Not only this but he suspended Mastodon from the micro-blogging platform. And now, Musk is not happy after reports of Meta planning to launch a Twitter rival surfaced.
Twitter Users have been Looking for Alternatives Since Musk Took Over
The change of policies in Twitter disappointed A huge number of Twitter users even since Musk took over in October 2022.
Some alternatives have started rising to prominence since then. Mastodon is a decentralised social network that has been around since 2016. It has reached from 300,000 users to over 2.5 million in recent months.
Another micro-blogging platform, named Koo. They launched it in 2020 and now boast over 450 million active users, second only to Twitter. Truth Social and Gettr have also seen an increase in user base since Musk started leading Twitter.
Also read: SnapChat Dark Mode: What is It and How to Activate It?
