The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta Platforms Inc., is looking at ways to develop a new social media platform in an effort to unseat Twitter as the global “digital town square.”
This was disclosed by Mark Zuckerberg’s tech business on Friday, according to Reuters.
For exchanging text updates, we’re investigating a standalone decentralized social network. In a statement sent to Reuters via email, a Meta representative said, “We think there’s a chance for a separate environment where creators and public personalities may give timely updates about their interests.
The parallel architecture that runs Mastodon, a service similar to Twitter that was introduced in 2016, will be used to power Meta’s app.
A Twitter-like app would make Meta take leverage on the existing challenges ravaging the Elon Musk-led company, where cost-cutting has been rampant.
Twitter is finding it difficult to hold on to its advertising base since Musk’s takeover of the platform late last year.
Many companies have restrained from investing their money in the app for marketing after Twitter’s move to restore suspended accounts and release a paid account verification that resulted in scammers impersonating firms.
Meanwhile, Meta’s plans come at a period when its biggest platform, Facebook, is struggling to attract the attention of a younger audience, while its huge investments in the Metaverse, a virtual world where users interact and work, display little signs of paying off, at least in the near term.
UPDATE: Meta Confirms WhatsApp Shutdown
Also, Meta’s video-sharing app, Instagram, is also facing stiff competition as content makers or hit influencers abandon the platform for TikTok.
Reuters also said it was not immediately clear when Meta would roll out the new app.
“The history of Meta is that they are much better acquirers than they are innovators or developers … as far as copying Twitter, this is just a defensive move,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman and managing member of New York-based Great Hill Capital.
“They’re just trying everything… at least with a mini blogging site like Twitter, there’s some expectation that it could start to make money out of much quicker timeline than the metaverse investment.
Meta’s investments in the metaverse will not drive revenue growth until 2030, analysts have said.
Meta shares were marginally higher at $181.7 in early trade on Friday. They have gained about 51% so far this year.
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