In a move that’s sure to go over great with Elon Musk, Meta is reportedly developing a text-based social media platform that sounds an awful lot like Twitter. According to an initial report by Moneycontrol, the app will reportedly be “Instagram-branded,” and its development was later confirmed by Meta. If Mark Zuckerberg can’t conquer the Metaverse, taking a big chunk out of Elon Musk is one way to assert his social media dominance.
“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates,” Meta confirmed in a statement. “We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.”
Platformer also corroborated Moneycontrol‘s report, and apparently, Meta’s Twitter substitute could fulfill both Musk and Jack Dorsey’s dream of a decentralized platform:
While the company would not elaborate beyond its statement, in a decentralized network individual users are typically able to set up their own, independent servers and set server-specific rules for how content is moderated.
Building a decentralized network could also give Meta the opportunity for its new app to interoperate with other social products — a previously unheard-of gesture from a company known for building some of the most lucrative walled gardens in the industry’s history.
As of this writing, Elon Musk hasn’t reacted to Meta’s new project, but he did reply to a tweet about the QAnon Shaman “getting the shaft.” The man has his priorities straight.
(Via Platformer)