Giant tech company Meta is reportedly working on a Twitter-like app, which could launch as early as next month.
Digital Marketing Expert Lia Haberman, disclosed that the new platform doesn’t have an official name yet, and is internally known as “P92” or “Barcelona”, but it is being designed following Instagram’s guidelines and branding.
The app description reads, “Say more with Instagram’s new text-based app for conversations. Talk directly with your audience and peers. Create with text and attach links, photos, and videos. Engage with likes and replies to deepen connections with friends, fans, and other creators. Bring your fans with you.”
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The app is entirely a new app, which is not part of Instagram, although users would be able to log in to it with their Instagram login details. This means that users of the new app will be able to sync their existing Instagram followers with the new platform, and even carry over their handle, bio, and verification from Instagram.
The app’s interface is quite similar to that of Instagram, but instead of a feed of photos and videos, the app’s home shows a timeline of text-based posts. Users will be able to attach photos, videos, and links to these posts, just like on Twitter. Other users can reply and create threads on the platform.
They will also be able to create text posts up to 500 characters long with attached links, photos, and videos up to five minutes long.
The app will be launched with some moderation features from the start, such as settings to control who can reply to and mention the user’s account. Notably, any accounts blocked on Instagram will also be blocked on the new app, hidden words selected on Instagram would also carry over and the same Instagram community guidelines would apply to the new platform.
Meta points out that creators will be able to easily bring their audience to the new app, as
users will have the option to follow accounts they already follow on Instagram with just a tap.
Reports reveal that Meta has met with certain creators about the platform, and it might potentially be released in June this year. The new app is said to be a decentralized app that’ll integrate with other platforms like Mastodon, meaning that users would be able to interact with several users across multiple services without having to constantly switch between apps.
Reports of Meta’s recent development of a new Twitter-like app are coming after a Meta spokesperson in March this year, had disclosed that the company was working on a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates.
It is worth noting that Meta is very experienced and arguably quite good at Cloning and copying the features of its rivals into its own apps. The tech Giant has always proven to be determined and resilient when it comes to building, testing, and launching features that give its rivals an edge. This could mean that once the app is launched, it would likely compete with Elon Musk Twitter.
For Meta, building a viable Twitter alternative would however mean increasing the company’s exposure to the fraught landscape of content moderation.