Facebook/Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly planning to launch a new platform to compete with Elon Musk’s Twitter.

Code-named Project 92, the platform will reportedly be based on Instagram, Zuckerberg’s photo-sharing app.

“The new standalone app will be based on Instagram and integrate with ActivityPub, the decentralized social media protocol. That will theoretically allow users of the new app to take their accounts and followers with them to other apps that support ActivityPub, including Mastodon,” The Verge reported earlier this month.

Meta chief product officer Chris Cox has called the new app “our response to Twitter.”

Speaking at a companywide meeting earlier this month, he said Project 92 — which will likely be called Threads publicly — will use Instagram’s account system to automatically populate a user’s information.

Cox also took a shot at Musk.

“We’ve been hearing from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run, that they believe that they can trust and rely upon for distribution,” he said.

FYI, Musk later took a shot back at Facebook/Meta:

I’m sure Earth can’t wait to be exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options.

At least it will be “sane”. Was worried there for a moment .

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 21, 2023

Cox added that the goal for the app is “safety, ease of use, reliability,” and ensuring that creators have a “stable place to build and grow their audiences.”

According to The Verge, he also said that several celebrities have already committed to using the app, including DJ Slime, and that a few are currently in discussions, including Oprah and the Dalai Lama.

Lastly, he said “coding began” in January and that Facebook/Meta plans to release the app “as soon as we can.”

Critics, for their part, believe the project is destined to fail, especially given the focus on Threads being a “sane” — i.e., establishment-friendly — social media network, not to mention Facebook/Meta’s obsession with so-called “fact-checking”:

I think THREADS is spelled FEDS.

— Thomas Jones (@BigJamesSlade) June 21, 2023

This will crash and burn. No matter how much the MSM and establishment will try and prop it up, it will not have a significant user base. This will go down like CNN+ in my opinion.

— Thirty (@ThisIzThirty) June 20, 2023

Anybody who has been on FB or Meta or whatever it’s called lately know that their “fact checks” are still rampant; now they’re going back and flagging things from 3-5 years ago.

The masses are not going to put themselves through that on yet another platform.

— Jenn Ecks Redux (@CactusCat236) June 21, 2023

They won’t come close up competing!!!! Fakebook and Instagram are throwing much shade and fact checking BS!!! The censorship is beyond ridiculous!! If anything it will be like the old Twitter so I say have at it!!! Not for me!!!

— LaShonLuv  (@LaShonLuv1) June 21, 2023

what a joke…FB has been lacking innovation for years. So much they copied Elon and Twitter less than 2 weeks after launching Twitter blue. Project 92 will be ️. “GameShark or Skynet” which I’m working on will be better for brands and users on X/Twitter @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/mYxLH0jnGn

— Nolan (@drinkngwbenefit) June 19, 2023

“The core distinction between Twitter & Facebook lies in the philosophies of their creators. One fosters an open platform for the truth, embracing consequences. The other crafts narratives to fit specific agendas. The essence of this difference lies in choice: narrative imposed vs narrative self-crafted. And nobody prefers imposed stories over the liberty to create their own,” another critic wrote.

According to a separate report from The Sydney Morning Herald, Threads will feature a 500-character limit for its posts. This is roughly double Twitter’s standard 280-character limit. Keep in mind though that Twitter Blue subscribers have a character limit of 10,000 words instead.

What remains clear now is whether Threads will be able to unseat Twitter as the world’s top social media platform.

“So far, smaller rivals have failed to do too much damage. Apps such as Bluesky, backed by former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, and Mastodon have enjoyed an uptick in users since Musk’s takeover but have failed to turn these bumps into real momentum,” the Herald notes.

But here’s the catch: “Meta presents a much more credible threat. Advertisers are likely to be much more willing to bank their ad dollars with Zuckerberg than smaller rivals.”

“Advertisers will be very open to a new offering from Meta,” Brian Wieser, an independent advertising analyst who writes the Madison and Wall newsletter, said to the Herald.

“While I think that brand safety and suitability concerns are generally a concern with all social media… there’s nothing keeping most advertisers away from Meta in the same way as Elon Musk’s presence at Twitter is doing so there,”  he added.

The biggest factor in Zuckerberg’s favor is Instagram’s size. As it stands, it boasts far more users than Twitter.

“Musk said in November that Twitter usage was at an ‘an all time high’, with around 250 million users since his takeover. Yet this pales in comparison to the more than 2 billion people who use Instagram alone. Zuckerberg would only need to convince a fraction of his user base to create an account to pose a threat to Twitter,” according to the Herald.

Senior Staff Writer — [email protected]
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections. 

V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.

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