Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is considering developing a new social media app in an effort to dethrone Twitter as the world’s “digital town square.”
According to Reuters, Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company announced this in an emailed statement on Friday.
“We’re researching a standalone decentralised social network for exchanging text updates. “We believe there is a possibility for a separate platform where creators and public personalities can give timely updates about their interests,” said a Meta representative in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Meta’s app will be built on a similar framework to Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that debuted in 2016.
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.
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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.
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.
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“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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