Meta Reportedly Working on a Decentralized Social App, Codenamed P92, that Could Rival Twitter

According to reports, Meta (formerly Facebook) is developing a new app for text-based content that will support ActivityPub, a decentralized social networking protocol used by Mastodon and other decentralized apps that compete with Twitter.

“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates. We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said.

The app has been code-named, P92, according to Money Control who originally broke the story. The app will reportedly allow users to log in using their Instagram credentials.

Meta’s development of P92 is being viewed as an effort to create a competitor to Twitter or Mastodon. Mastodon gained popularity after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, alongside other Twitter alternatives like Post.news, and T2, while the Nostr protcol for decentralized social media gained the support of former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey.

In March 2023, Dorsey-backed Bluesky also launched its iOS app in beta while messaging apps like Rocket.chat have embraced the Matrix protocol.

P92 Plans

In December 2022, Instagram, another subsidiary platform by Meta, introduced a feature called Notes that enables users to share short posts of up to 60 characters using only text and emojis. According to a report by The New York Times, the company considered transforming this feature into a competitor to Twitter.“The plan as of now is that the MVP (minimum viable product) will definitely allow our users to broadcast posts to people on other servers. It may or may not enable our users to follow and view the content of people on other servers,” said a source aware of the thinking on the matter.According to the plan, some of the other features that will be available on the initial versions of the app include tappable links in posts with previews (similar to Twitter), user bios, usernames, verification badges, and shareable images and videos.Sources told MoneyControl that the P92 team is planning to follow the ‘fork’ approach with the MVP so users will initially sign up and log into the P92 app using their Instagram login information and their profile will be populated with their account details (e.g. name, username, bio, profile photo, followers).The app will also enable users to have followers and likes, although it is unclear whether commenting and messaging features will be included in the first version of the product. These features, however, are expected to be added eventually.