Meta (Instagram) Is Set To Unleash An App That Will Rival Twitter This Summer
Are you tired of Twitter and Elon Musk? Well, times may be changing as Meta has finally decided to throw its hat in the ring and challenge Twitter with its own platform. Meta, who owns Instagram is planning to release a text-based app that will compete with Twitter and may debut as early as June this year.
Currently, Meta is testing their product with influencers and a few creators hopefully doing their best to get the bugs out. If this is indeed going to work, you can just imagine how Musk feels about all this. He purchased Twitter in 2022 for $45 Billion and has since changed the platform and not all for the good.
Twitter, once free now has subscription services that will provide you with the infamous Blue Check, the function to edit and type longer tweets for $8 a month. Twitter is still user-friendly but the makeup has changed. What was once fun, now feels more like business than chatting with strangers and keeping tabs on trends and news.
Based on a (somewhat blurry) example I got, Meta’s new app looks a lot like Twitter. So, could this take over all the Twitter screenshots we’ve been seeing on the Feed lately? Maybe. It’s impossible to predict how audiences will respond but this could be an alternative. pic.twitter.com/xgQa1kUjCl — Lia Haberman (@liahaberman) May 19, 2023
Users will be able to sign in with their Instagram username and password, and your followers, handle, bio, and verification will transfer over from the main app. You’ll see a feed, and you can make text posts up to 500 characters long with attached links, photos, and videos.
What this new app will have over Twitter is that it’s connected to everything Meta (Facebook/Instagram). For years, companies have been searching for an app that would rival Facebook but to no avail. Twitter has not been the same since Jack Dorsey had his hands on it and instead of keeping the train moving, Musk came in and made it more business than personal.
In the end, this will come back to haunt him. But as the saying goes, steel sharpens steel, and a move like this by Meta may force Musk’s hand and have him totally reinvent Twitter. Competition brings out the best in some. Look at it like Tesla owning the electric car scene but here comes Honda, Ford, and the others. All that did was make Musk and Tesla up their game.
If the app is released widely, it could make Instagram an even more popular destination than it already is. With the continued complaints surrounding Twitter, many people are looking for their next place to share tweet-like updates. While platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky have gained some traction, a text-based Instagram app would offer a way for people who have already built followings on the platform to just keep posting there without having to scrounge for followers in yet another place.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
