Meta, an American multinational technology conglomerate, is reportedly working on a new decentralized text-based app, according to a March 9th report.
It will support ActivityPub, the protocol that powers Mastodon and other decentralized social networking apps that compete with Twitter. The app, codenamed P92, is still under development, and Meta has not revealed when it plans to release it.
Meta Ventures Into Decentralization With P92
The app will allow users to log in through their Instagram credentials, according to documents seen by MoneyControl. This move has raised concerns among users who might not want to share their Instagram data with another Meta app.
The report stated that Meta’s recent actions are being interpreted as an effort to develop a Twitter alternative or a Mastodon competitor, given the increasing popularity of decentralized networks since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.
The Fediverse, which is a network of decentralized servers that supports the ActivityPub protocol, includes various platforms like Tumblr, Flipboard, and Flickr.
Meta’s new application will support ActivityPub, which will make it easier to connect with other instances, such as Mastodon, as per MoneyControl. However, decentralization is not limited to this protocol alone.
Bluesky, which is backed by Jack Dorsey, recently launched its iOS app in beta, and messaging applications like Rocket.chat have already embraced the Matrix protocol.
Blaine Cook, who is a former Twitter engineer, believes that the diversity of protocols is as significant as the diversity of applications that are built on top of them.
He noted that interoperability between ActivityPub and Bluesky won’t be difficult and that the only thing preventing interoperability between Twitter and Facebook’s timeline has been protectionist policies by those companies.
Meta has made attempts to create new apps and experiences in the past, but not all have taken off. It has killed experiments like the anonymous teen app, tbh, Cameo-like app Super, Nextdoor clone Neighborhoods, couples app Tuned, and TikTok clone Lasso, just to name a few, according to the report.
Therefore, it won’t be surprising if the new decentralized app shuts down a few years after its launch. Meta has confirmed the development of the new app in a statement but has not revealed details about its release, per the report.
However, the company’s move to create a decentralized app is an attempt to provide users with an alternative to Twitter and Mastodon and to create a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.
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