Meta considering a standalone social network that looks a lot like Twitter | CNN Business

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Facebook parent Meta is exploring creating a new stand-alone platform for sharing text updates, the company confirmed to CNN on Friday, in what could mark the highest-profile new competitor to Twitter as it flops under Elon Musk.

“We believe there is an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to CNN, essentially outlining Twitter’s mission statement. without naming the platform.

The platform, whose plans were previously reported by Platformer and MoneyControl, would be decentralized, meaning users could create different servers or communities, each with their own rules rather than a central platform controlled by Meta. The concept is similar to Reddit or Discord, but departs from how other Meta platforms work.

If Meta’s new platform were decentralized, it could allow third parties to build apps and features on the platform, potentially giving users experiences beyond what Meta could create.

The effort, codenamed P92, is in its early stages and is being led by Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, according to Platformer.

Meta declined to comment beyond its statement, even in response to questions about the new platform’s potential features or a timeline for launch.

In recent months, several emerging platforms have sought to capitalize as Twitter struggles with frequent outages, the return of controversial users and a drop in advertisers. Many of them had an early spike in users following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, but have since struggled to gain mainstream adoption.

Mastodon, a decentralized social network that launched in 2016, grew its user base from 300,000 users to more than 2.5 million in the weeks after Musk completed its acquisition of Twitter in late October . But its growth has slowed in recent months, in part because users struggle with the somewhat less simple and user-friendly nature of a decentralized platform.

A new Meta service, however, could benefit from the large existing user base of the company’s other platforms, including the two billion people who use Facebook daily.

The plans for a new platform come as Meta is also changing strategy for its older platforms, emphasizing video and recommended content in an effort to better compete with TikTok. Earlier this week, Facebook chief Tom Alison told CNN that the app is testing the reintroduction of messaging so users don’t have to go to a separate app to share content they find on Facebook.