Meta Platforms May Pivot to Decentralized Social Networks

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc could soon launch a standalone decentralized social network, Moneycontrol reported on Friday.

The debut is reportedly a direct rival to Twitter Inc., owned by billionaire Elon Musk.

Based on sources, the news portal reported that the launch would support ActivityPub, the decentralized social networking protocol that powers Twitter rival Mastodon.

The project is codenamed P92.

In response to the report, Meta stated, “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,”

However, it is unclear from the release if P92 is in the ideation or development stage. Meanwhile, other rivals could threaten both Meta’s and Twitter’s market positions.

Amid several Twitter-like launches after Musk’s takeover of the platform, reports confirmed the beta release of T2 by former employees. Spill and Mastodon are other launches that aim to exploit Twitter’s losing edge.

Jae Kaplan, the co-founder of Anti Software Software club, the group Twitter rival Cohost, previously told CNN, “Something that we’ve heard a lot from people who are moving over from Twitter, either partially or fully, is that it is just for them a nicer experience overall.”

The “Twitter Killer” moniker was also used by the Nostr-based standard decentralized social media network called Damus. And interestingly, Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey backs open protocol Nostr.

Billionaire Elon Musk officially closed the Twitter deal after a protracted back and forth on Oct. 27, 2022. Amid the takeover, both tech bosses discussed the idea of a blockchain-based social media platform. As a result, the DeSo Foundation also announced the release of its ambitious roadmap of a decentralized social layer in 2023.

Now, there is more competition to profit from the chaos created by “Chief Twit.” Meta-owned Instagram likewise debuted a brand-new feature in December 2022 called Notes. It enabled users to share brief posts of up to 60 characters.

A source told Moneycontrol, “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,”

According to the story, the P92 will permit initial registration using Instagram.

According to the product brief cited by the report, the new app will work per the company’s current and supplemental privacy policies. It will specifically mention cross-app data sharing. According to sources who spoke to the platform, Instagram and P92 will eventually share very little info.

However, the idea is to benefit from Instagram’s huge user base. This will allow P92 to use Instagram data from every Instagram user, independent of their involvement.

2023 is the year that Mark Zuckerberg dubbed the “year of efficiency” in Meta’s fourth-quarter financial report.

Meanwhile, recent reports stated that Meta Platforms is preparing a fresh round of layoffs where the tech giant could let go of thousands of employees. What’s notable is Zuckerberg’s statement that the business would be more “proactive in cutting projects” that aren’t performing or might not be absolutely necessary.

Therefore, it is becoming increasingly clear that Meta is buying into the Web3 and AI hype with its recent launches. And P92 is one of them.