Twitter is getting a new competitor, and this time, it is not a startup company that replicates the same strategies; instead, it’s the social media giant Meta. Since Elon’s acquisition of the popular app Twitter, and the significant changes made, the future of Twitter remains unknown. 

Meta dominates social media with popular apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and adding another app to the mix can be an effortless success.

The network of sister apps has platforms for all kinds of content, from short-form to photos and live statuses, with the only missing piece being a text-based app. 

While there is no official release date or company-released preview of the app, influencers and creators contacted by Meta to test the app are spilling the beans, and we have everything you need to know.

Read along as we break down everything we know about the new Twitter alternative and how it may be the start of something greater than just another Twitter. 

What is Meta’s New Twitter Alternative? 

The new app, set to launch in the summer of 2023, is a decentralized microblogging application allowing users to share their thoughts on specific matters following the same guidelines as Instagram. 

Currently codenamed P92 or Barcelona, the app will be a text-based platform partially integrated with Instagram. 

All the information about the new app was shared by Lia Haberman, professor of social and influencer marketing at UCLA and author of the newsletter ICYMI.

The marketing enthusiast claims she sat down with one of the creators contacted by Instagram to start testing the new app and even had a quick sneak peek at what the platform looks like.

Lia shared a few screenshots of the app at its early stage and claimed that Instagram has been reaching out to many big-name creators to test it before its launch this summer. 

Specifics and What We Know 

According to what Lia Haberman shared about the app from insider intel, here’s everything we know about the new text-based platform: 

• The new Instagram app may eventually see integrations with Mastodon, and users on the Mastodon platform can see and interact with content on Meta’s new decentralized app. 

• The app will directly tie to other Meta apps, allowing users to publish up to 500 characters per posting. 

• Users can sign in to their account using the same credentials as their original Instagram account, and everything from username to following accounts will remain the same. 

• The launching date of the new platform is yet to be determined, but rumors suggest that it will be as soon as June of 2023, and Meta will be pitching it as an “Instagram for your thoughts.” 

• The new app will be Meta’s first decentralized app, and data from the app will not be accessible to the corporation.

• The interface will look like a hybrid mix between Instagram and Twitter, with the same familiar bottom navigation as Instagram.

• Users will have the option of including photos with the text they share, with priority to text, following the exact layout of tweets. 

• Instagram verification and handles will remain unchanged, and their followers will receive notifications to follow them on the new platform. 

Other notable details include a separate centralized feed that shows recommended content and follower posts from platforms like Facebook and Instagram. 

Why is Instagram Launching a Twitter Alternative? 

The opportunity to fill the gap that Twitter is creating with its recent changes may never reoccur, and Meta is among the most qualified companies to capitalize on it. 

Many factors are influencing the launch of Meta’s new platform, and here are all the reasons this new platform is bound to succeed:

The Demand for Decentralized Networks 

Decentralization is a popular topic everyone sees necessary moving forward with social media, banking, and digital assets. 

A decentralized platform means that owners of the platform will have no access to user data. Instead, like blockchain technology, data is spread between connection points that shape the overall network. 

This structure makes it much harder for a network to be overruled and controlled by an attacker. There is also no central administrator for the web, creating a more democratized and collaborative environment.

However, a decentralized structure allows every user to see and access data, making every update or transaction irreversible. 

The Uncertainty Twitter Is Facing 

Significant changes have occurred since business magnate Elon Musk acquired the app in October 2022, and many users are gradually leaving the space for alternative platforms like Mastodon. 

Although many new users downloaded the app upon the change of management, the increased hateful content, lack of regulations, and significant changes are pushing many users away. 

In early May 2023, Musk announced that he was hiring NBCUniversal’s Linda Yaccarino, an executive with deep ties to the advertising industry, as Twitter’s new CEO. 

While we are still awaiting what the new CEO will bring to Twitter, the mix of uncertainty and major changes opens up new areas of opportunity for competitors, and Instagram is going all in. 

Meta’s integrated network of apps 

Mastodon, Twitter’s main competitor, is succeeding in becoming the next big thing in the world of microblogging, with now over 1 million active users. However, with Meta’s dominant positioning in the industry, the same numbers can easily be generated in a much shorter timeframe. 

The opportunity that Meta has to introduce new apps and services isn’t even slightly comparable to a startup company like Mastodon.

By integrating the new app with Instagram, creators who already have a large following on other meta apps, are, by default, granted the same number of followers on the new text-based app. 

The convenience of integration incentivizes any established Meta creator to switch platforms from competitors and allows Meta to dominate the space without being another startup competing with Twitter. 

This goes to show the level of dominance Meta and its sub-brands have over the social media world in general and provokes the question of whether the brand will have a monopoly over all sectors in the future. 

Conclusion 

After introducing the notes feature on Instagram, Meta has developed a bigger and better stratagey to include text-based content in its overall mix, which will likely result in the disappearance of Instagram notes. 

The window of opportunity came amid ongoing frustrations about how Twitter is currently running things. Whether it be the return of previously banned accounts on Twitter, the new paid-for verification badge, or dislike of Elon Musk, many users are looking for the next best platform. 

The new app by Meta is still in its final testing stages, according to sources, and will be released for public use as early as next month, June 2023. 

There has never been a better time to launch an alternative to Twitter, and by doing so, we may be witnessing the rise of an all-inclusive “Metaverse” and a true social-media monopoly.