New images and details about Instagram’s upcoming Twitter competitor have emerged
After the first screenshots of the so-called “Project Balcelona”, which is the name of a new text social network from Meta, were leaked to the Internet, we heard nothing more about it. Now journalists have published new images and said that the company is already attracting its first celebrities.
One of Meta’s directors showed employees a preview of the future Twitter competitor. The Verge observed the meeting and reported that the service will be based on Instagram and will integrate with ActivityPub, a decentralized social media protocol. Theoretically, this will allow users to migrate their accounts and subscribers from other apps that support ActivityPub, including Mastodon. And vice versa.
In the screenshot, you can see an interface that combines Twitter logic with the design familiar to us from Instagram. The button for creating a new post is located in the center of the bottom panel.
Chris Cox, Meta’s chief development officer, called the upcoming service “our answer to Twitter.” It will use the Instagram account system to automatically fill in user information. The project’s internal code name is Project 92, not Barcelona, as previously reported. Its public name may be Threads, according to internal documents, but this is apparently not yet decided.
We’ve heard from creators and public figures who are interested in having a smartly managed platform that they feel they can trust and rely on to distribute [their content],
– Chris Cox said, in effect throwing a direct blow at Elon Musk’s Twitter management, which caused cheers from the audience.
He says that the company’s goal when creating the service was “security, ease of use, reliability,” and to provide creators with “a stable place to build and grow their audience.”
It has also become known that the company has already attracted celebrities who use the app, such as DJ Slime, and is negotiating with other famous people, including Oprah and the Dalai Lama.
According to Cox, “coding for the app has begun” in January, and Meta will make it available “as soon as it can.”
