Meta is set to debut its Twitter rival, codenamed P92 or Barcelona, before the end of June, according to The Verge, citing a leaked Substack newsletter. According to sources, this new text-based Twitter competitor‘s new character length will be 500 characters. Similar to Elon Musk‘s microblogging site, users will be able to include links, images, and videos in their posts.
The Verge described Lia Haberman as providing some secret documents, which fueled speculation about this new competing program. Lia is an instructor at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) in Social Media and Influencer Marketing.
According to The Verge, the leaked ICYMI Substack newsletter revealed marketing slides and other facts regarding the rumored app. The program has no specific name in the leaked slides, and it is just referred to as “Instagram’s new text-based app for conversations.”
However, there is a catch! Users can log on with their Instagram credentials and voilà! All of your information will be transferred to the new app, including your following, bio information, and confirmed tick.
The app’s design appears to be a hybrid of Twitter and Instagram. According to the leaked slides, the text-based app will “equip you with settings to control who can reply to you and mention your account.”
An application that is not centralized
“Soon, our app will be compatible with certain other apps like Mastodon,” Instagram’s slide said. “Users on these other apps will be able to search for, follow and interact with your profile and content if you’re public, or if you’re private and approve them as followers.”
Instagram is already quite popular among the general public, and with the birth of this new text-based beast, the media site is expected to acquire even more popularity. The app is seen as a competitor to systems such as Mastodon and Bluesky.
Meta’s reaction to the new Twitter-like app
Meta is yet to comment on the possibility of a Twitter-like app being released in the future. The tech giant in March reportedly said, “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.”