Instagram’s new news app aims to compete with Twitter

What Twitter and Elon Musk can do, Meta and Zuckerberg can soon too? The Facebook group is planning a Twitter-like app. (Image sources: Tumisu via Pixabay, Anthony Quintano via Wikimedia Commons)

Marc Zuckerberg’s tech company Meta is planning its own microblogging service that will be similar to Twitter (The Verge, 9to5Mac, Techcrunch reported on liahaberman.substack.com). The source of this information is Lia Haberman; the social media expert wants her information from a content creator who attended a secret meeting at Meta.

In her message, Haberman also shows an image that looks like a marketing presentation. In the image, new microblogging app is not named, instead it is paraphrased as: Instagram’s new text-based conversation app. Incidentally, the new microblogging service is to be based on Instagram.

The user interface is as unspectacular as it is well known: this is what the new Twitter competitor could look like.

The Verge describes the user interface visible from the leak as a mixture of Twitter and Instagram. Even if the potential Twitter competitor does not yet have an official name – there are already several code names. These are: P92, Project 92 or Barcelona.

Below are some of the most relevant key dates known so far thanks to Lia Haberman:

• Compatibility with other microblogging services: Anyone who uses Barcelona should also be able to interact with similar networks such as Mastodon or Bluesky.
• log in with your Instagram username and password
• Take followers with you: You can take your followers from Instagram to the new microblogging service
• Taken from your Instagram profile: your profile, your bio, your type of verification. Also: If you have blocked someone on Instagram, the same user will also be blocked on Barcelona.

As far as other features in terms of use are concerned, Barcelona should excel with:

• text messages publish with a maximum length of 500 characters. For comparison: The highest possible number of characters on Twitter is currently capped at 280 characters.
• Decorate your sentences: Your texts can be supplemented with links, photos and videos. The videos should have a maximum total length of 5 minutes.
• Cross-platform interaction: Users of other apps can also interact with your profile. In other words: can follow you, search for your profile and related content.

How’s Twitter doing under Elon Musk?

Classification: Since Elon Musk took over Twitter last year, the short message service with the blue bird has been the subject of controversy (tagesschau.de reported).

Many of the employees were laid off; instead of 7,500 employees, Twitter now only has 1,500 employees. And after Musk also A) allowed hate-spreading accounts on Twitter and B) severely restricted content moderation, misinformation has flourished – and misanthropic statements are in high season on the platform.

This is also reflected in fiscal terms: Important brands such as Volkswagen do not place any advertisements on Twitter because the advertising environment is too harsh for them.

The recent action to demand money for the blue tick on Twitter should also be viewed critically. The blue tick was originally intended to ensure the authenticity of profiles. Now it’s a source of income for Twitter that few individuals or businesses are willing to pay for.

Do you welcome the new microblogging platform Meta is planning on Instagram’s back? Or have you sworn allegiance to Twitter, or are you on another platform of your choice? Write us about it in the comments!