The latest decentralized social network application under development

According to a March 9 report, an American multinational technology conglomerate called Meta is working on a new decentralized text-based application.

It will support the ActivityPub protocol that powers Mastodon and other decentralized social networking apps that compete with Twitter. The app, codenamed P92, is still in development, and Meta hasn’t said when it plans to release it.

Meta is decentralizing with the P92

According to documents seen by MoneyControl, the app allows users to log in using their Instagram credentials. The move has raised concerns among users who may not want to share their Instagram data with another Meta app.

The report stated that Meta’s recent moves are being interpreted as an effort to develop a Twitter alternative or Mastodon competitor, given the growing popularity of decentralized networks since Elon Musk took over Twitter.

Fediverse, a network of decentralized servers that support the ActivityPub protocol, includes various platforms such as Tumblr, Flipboard, and Flickr.

Meta’s new app will support ActivityPub, making it easier to connect to other instances like Mastodon, according to MoneyControl. However, decentralization is not limited to this protocol.

Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky recently launched its iOS app in beta, and messaging apps like Rocket.chat have already embraced the Matrix protocol.

Blaine Cook, who is a former engineer at Twitter, believes that the diversity of protocols is as significant as the diversity of applications based on them.

He noted that interoperability between ActivityPub and Bluesky won’t be difficult, and the only thing preventing interoperability between Twitter and Facebook’s timelines is the protectionist policies of those companies.

Meta has made attempts to create new apps and experiences in the past, but not all of them have panned out. According to the report, it has experimented with the likes of the anonymous teen app tbh, the Cameo-like app Super, the Nextdoor clone Neighborhoods, the couples app Tuned, and the TikTok clone Lasso, to name a few.

Therefore, it won’t be surprising if the new decentralized application stops working a few years after its launch. In a statement, Meta confirmed the development of the new app, but did not reveal details about its release, according to the report.

But the company’s move to create a decentralized app is an attempt to offer users an alternative to Twitter and Mastodon, creating a dedicated space where creators and public figures can share breaking news related to their interests.

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