P92 is the codename for a new Meta-backed social-media platform that is designed to challenge Twitter’s supremacy.
Key Details
- MoneyControl reported a leak on Thursday that Meta is designing a new text-based social-media platform.
- The report was confirmed in a statement to The Platform, saying that it is in the early stages of designing a new decentralized app similar to Mastodon.
- P93 is a decentralized social media platform allowing users to set up private servers for individual communities, even sharing connectivity with Mastodon.
- It is not being designed to replace Facebook, but it will be accessible with users’ previous Instagram sign-ins and is being designed as a challenge to Twitter’s market.
- Details about the app are limited, and there is no timeframe for a release date.
Why It’s Important
The relative decline of Twitter, it being taken over by Tesla owner and billionaire Elon Musk, has created opportunities in the market for social media companies to attempt to cash in on that style of social-media networking. The first significant competitor was Mastodon, which became prominent in November as tens of thousands of users attempted a mass exodus. This proved fruitless as the first wave of users reported it was a poor replacement.
Facebook has also seen a decline in the past decade. Despite hosting 2.96 billion users as of January, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has seen fit to shy away from the brand, renaming his umbrella company Meta Platforms to reflect the innovative cutting edge of the company, with its ambition to create a virtual-reality social-media platform called Metaverse.
Musk purchased Twitter on October 27, 2022, and his term as the owner and CEO has been criticized as the website has faced revenue issues, short-term outages, and bans of journalists and users critical of Musk.
As Platformer notes, P93 could also serve to address many of the core criticisms leveled against Facebook, by providing tighter community standards and alleviating concerns of “anti-competitive acquisitions” by collaborating with Mastodon.
Notable Quote
“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,” says Meta.