Internet
Meta allows first look at Twitter competitor offering
The Meta logo at the corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, California: The Facebook group is competing with Twitter with a new app. photo
© Tony Avelar/AP/dpa
The American technology company has presented its employees with the early version of its new app, with which it wants to compete with Twitter. And when will it be public?
The Facebook group Meta is progressing with the development of its Twitter competitor offer and wants to bring it to the public as soon as possible. Top manager Chris Cox demonstrated an early version of the app to employees at a company-wide launch Thursday, according to technology blog The Verge and the Wall Street Journal, among others. The application is based on Instagram and should also be compatible with decentralized Twitter alternatives such as Mastodon.
Cox reportedly called the app “our answer to Twitter.” Meta has heard from public figures, among others, that there is “interest in a rational platform,” he said in a dig at the chaotic months on Twitter since it was taken over by tech billionaire Elon Musk in October. Among other things, they are talking to US television star Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama about using the new app.
A screenshot published by The Verge shows that the meta app lets you like, reply to, and repeat short posts for your followers, similar to Twitter.
At Twitter, several large advertisers left after Musk’s acquisition because of concerns about the environment for their ads. There’s also more attention to alternatives like Mastodon or Bluesky. Meta, with several billion users already connected on its platforms such as Instagram, is seen as a potentially particularly strong rival for Twitter.