“We are exploring a standalone decentralized social network for text messaging,” a Meta spokesperson told Reuters in an email. The Indian business news site Moneycontrol.com was the first to report it, citing insiders. The new service should run under the brand name Instagram.
Unlike Twitter or the other meta-services Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and the photo platform Instagram, the messages should not run on central computers. Instead, servers from service providers or other providers would be used, similar to Twitter’s rival Mastodon. Plans for a Twitter rival fit Meta’s strategy to dominate all areas of social media, said Jehil Thakkar, partner at consultancy Deloitte India. The company wants to cover all types of use and age groups. Mark Zuckerberg’s group has long been struggling with competition from the controversial short video app TikTok, which is particularly popular with young people.
Twitter hasn’t calmed down since it was taken over by Elon Musk, who, among other things, heads the electric car manufacturer Tesla. With his erratic personnel and business policy, he unsettles users and advertisers. Therefore, many of them turn to the competition.