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Meta Platforms‘ Instagram is planning to release a text-based app that will compete with Twitter and may debut as soon as June, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Facebook parent is testing the product with influencers and some creators, according to the report.
The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Meta has been contacting talent agencies and celebrities to gauge their interest in trying an early version of the app, which will be integrated with Instagram, said Alex Heath in a newsletter.
“The decentralized app is built on the back of Instagram but will be compatible with some other apps like Mastodon,” according to a newsletter by Lia Haberman, who teaches social and influencer marketing at UCLA in California.
The report also mentions that the parent company Meta has made the new app secretly available to select creators for months. It is said to be separate from Instagram yet allow people to connect accounts.
As per Lia Haberman’s screenshot, the app will let people connect with their friends using texts, shared links, photos as well as videos. Moreover, fans will be allowed to join the accounts of the influencers and creators they follow on Instagram with just one tap.
The app is also being update for security measures. To ensure the privacy of accounts, the users blocked on Instagram may soon be carried over to the new app. To add, this new app is also working on compatibility with Twitter’s rival Mastodon.
© Thomson Reuters 2023