10th March 2023 – (New York) Meta Platforms Inc, formerly known as Facebook, is exploring the development of a standalone decentralised social network for sharing text updates, which could potentially rival Twitter. According to a company spokesperson, Meta sees an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests. Indian business news website Moneycontrol.com first reported the news, stating that Meta’s new content app would support ActivityPub, the decentralised social networking protocol used by Twitter competitor Mastodon and other federated apps.
While Twitter and Facebook are controlled by a single company, decentralised platforms such as Mastodon are installed on thousands of computer servers, largely run by volunteer administrators who join their systems together in a federation. The new app is expected to be Instagram-branded and will allow users to register or login using their Instagram credentials, according to the Moneycontrol report.