Meta to unveil new text-based social network to take on Twitter

Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms is working on a new social media app that will allow users to post text updates, the company has confirmed in a statement. The app, codenamed P92, is being viewed as a competitor to Elon Musk-led Twitter.

Although Twitter was never the most popular social media platform, its users have found themselves looking for alternatives after the world's richest person, Elon Musk, acquired it last year. In what can only be described as chaos inside Twitter, features have been chopped and changed, and tweets from the CEO have been pushed down users' throats by meddling with the algorithm.

Other companies view this as an opportunity to bring in a new social media app, with former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey launching a look-alike rival earlier this month. Moneycontrol.com, an India-based business news website, first revealed that Meta is also working on a competing product, P92.

How does Meta's P92 work?

Per the news outlet's internal product brief, P92 is a standalone text-based content app that will carry the Instagram brand. Users will be able to log in and sign up to the platform using their Instagram credentials, and in the initial stages, users will be able to broadcast their posts to others.

Since the platform plans to use a decentralized structure where user profiles will be located on different servers, it is unclear whether users can follow others and view the content of users from other servers.

While these features, along with the ability to comment on content and message people directly, are expected to be eventually included, the product's first version, when launched, might have the bare bones of a social media app. This would be a user name, bio, verification badge, and tappable links in posts that will provide previews, much like Twitter.

As per the internal brief, users opting for Instagram-based sign-ins must agree with the new app's privacy policy, terms of service, and the data sharing between the two to populate account details. Following this, the data sharing between the two apps will be minimal, but Meta would like P92 users to recommend their Instagram contacts to join the new platform too.

The outlet added that Instagram data of all users are expected to be used for analytics and product improvement on P92. In a statement released after the publication of this report, Meta said that they saw the new app as a space where "creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests."

A date or timeline for the launch is not yet available.