In a secret meeting with selected creators, Instagram’s parent company, Meta, reportedly revealed its plan to launch a text-based conversation app. Leaked screenshots of the alleged upcoming app show a user interface similar to Twitter.
Instagram plans to compete with Twitter no cover by Lia Haberman, an influencer marketing and social media marketing teacher at the University of California, Los Angeles Extension. According to Haberman, although the text-based app is built on top of Instagram, it is decentralized and will function as a separate app. The app will also be compatible with other decentralized social media apps such as Mastodon, allowing users to reach a larger audience.
Meta has informed creators about the upcoming text-based app – now eyeing a possible late June launch.
Details are in my newsletter but I will list some highlights pic.twitter.com/KYqqXjrRmD
– Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) May 19, 2023
The future app will maintain a Twitter-like centralized feed, which allows users to view content such as text, images and videos shared by followers and recommended accounts. Each text-based post is limited to a word count of 500 characters.
While the Twitter rival app will operate independently of Instagram, creator controls and account safety features, such as blocked accounts and keywords, will be carried over to the new app.
Sources have confirmed that Instagram is working on a Twitter competitor (a separate app) for release this summer. It may eventually be compatible with open solutions like Mastodon. Credit to @liahaberman @MattNavarra @CaseyNewton for earlier deets https://t.co/f2KNITGZy6
— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) May 19, 2023
Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier reportedly confirmed the development of the Twitter-like Instagram app from insiders. Meta first confirmed plans to create a standalone decentralized social network in March when it said, “We are exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe that there is an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.
Related: Meta pulls the plug on NFTs on Instagram and Facebook
With a vision to bring more decentralization to the internet, TBD — a division of Jack Dorsey Block’s fintech company — announced a Web5 decentralized web platform that aims to introduce “decentralized identity and data storage” in applications.
To facilitate this decentralized web experience, TBD’s web5 platform will introduce several key components and leverage the use of decentralized identifiers.
