If there is a social media phenomenon that is gaining popularity, Meta will try to participate. We have seen the company copying different types of formats ranging from stories to short videos after seeing the success of other platforms. Now, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg is working on a text-based decentralized application.
Meta confirmed this development in a statement, but did not provide details on when it plans to release the app.
“We are exploring an independent decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there is an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates on their interests," a Meta spokesperson said.
This new decentralized application, codenamed P92, is still in development, as first reported by Money Control. According to documents seen by the post, the app will allow users to log in via their Instagram credentials. This might annoy people who don't want to share that data with another Meta app.
An Platformer said the project will be overseen by Instagram boss Adam Mosseri. The company is already engaging the legal department to catch privacy issues before the app goes public, the report added.
Meta's move is seen as an attempt to build an alternative to Twitter or a competitor to Mastodon. The latter gained popularity after Elon Musk took over Twitter. The decentralized network is part of Fediverse, a network of decentralized servers, which supports the ActivityPub protocol. The new Meta app also plans to support ActivityPub, making it easier to connect to other instances like Mastodon, according to MoneyControl.
There are many other tools that have implemented (or are planning to implement) ActivityPub support, including Tumblr, Flipboard, and Flickr.
But decentralization is not limited to this protocol. Bluesky, backed by Jack Dorsey, released its iOS app in beta last week. And messaging apps like Rocket.chat have adopted the Matrix protocol.
However, former Twitter engineer Blaine Cook commented last year that the existence of competing protocols is a good thing.
“I think the diversity of protocols is important, as is the diversity of applications built on top of the protocols. With that being said, I strongly believe that interop between ActivityPub and Bluesky won't be difficult. The only thing that has prevented, for example, interoperability between Twitter and Facebook's timeline has been the protectionist policies of those companies,” he noted.
It's important to remember that Meta has tried to create new apps and experiences that haven't always taken off. In recent years, it has killed experiments like anonymous teen app tbh, Cameo-like app Super, Nextdoor Neighborhoods clone, couples app Tuned, student-focused social network Campus, speed dating service by video Sparked and the TikTok clone Lasso just to name a few. So it won't be surprising if the new decentralized experience shuts down a couple of years after launch.
