Dear clients,
Meta, the parent firm of Facebook and Instagram is mulling a plan to build standalone text-based apps that will support ActivityPub, the decentralized social network protocol that powers Twitter rival Mastodon, and other federated apps used by sources familiar with the features.
While Twitter and Facebook are controlled by a body—a company—decentralized platforms like Mastodon running on thousands of computer servers are often largely run by volunteer administrators who federate their systems.
The app will appear branded as Instagram and will allow users to sign in/sign out to the app with their credentials. Of course, it’s not clear if the app, codenamed P92, is still in the concept stage or if the active development phase has already begun. A source close to said the app is still under development.
Meta has already confirmed the information:
“We are exploring offline decentralized information to exchange text updates. We suggest that there is an opportunity for separate spaces where creators and public figures hold public-temporal updates about their goals,” a Meta spokesperson said.
This is not their first attempt to compete with the instant messaging service. In December 2022, Meta already introduced a new Instagram feature called Notes that allows users to spread messages up to 60 characters using only text and emoji.
