SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 — Is Instagram preparing to move into Twitter ‘s turf? The Meta group is reportedly planning to launch an app this summer that, like Twitter, will focus on text. So what will this new platform offer? Here’s what we know.
Instagram isn’t reticent about checking out what the competition is up to when it adapts or updates its offering. After drawing inspiration from TikTok’s viral videos to create the Reels format, the Meta group is maintaining momentum by looking to the Twitter concept. That’s what the screenshots made by journalist Lia Haberman for ICYMI seem to suggest. According to her information, Instagram is working on this project reportedly going by the codename P92, Project 92 or Barcelona. The principle is the same as that of the platform co-founded by Jack Dorsey with the slogan “Instagram for your thoughts.”
Synchronisation of accounts for faster registration
Users will be able to log in using their Instagram account username and password. The accounts will sync, allowing them to retrieve all their followers as well as their username and all their profile information as well as the settings for the accounts and words they have blocked on Instagram. Two-factor authentication will also be implemented. A registration process designed to be easy and to maintain followers. The strategy of the Meta group is clearly aimed at winning over content creators in order to quickly build user numbers with dedicated fans on the app.
In terms of content, the objective of this new platform is to let users express themselves in words. They will have a limit of 500 characters per post, compared to 280 on Twitter for those who are not subscribed to Twitter Blue. They will also be able to add links, photos and even videos of up to five minutes in length.
As on Twitter, users of the new Meta platform will be able to react to content with “likes,” comments, shares, and even share other users’ content in reposts in the style of “retweets.”
Creators will have to respect the rules of the Instagram community, but will have the ability to control responses and mentions, report content and easily block other users. All features which are rather common in the world of social media and which are already available on other networks. At this point, there is no indication as to whether the Meta group has considered eventually rolling out a “Live” option like Twitter’s live audio rooms, known as “Spaces.”
Some Instagram users have already been able to test out this new app before its official launch, which is expected in late June, according to reports.
#Instagram keeps working on Barcelona, their text-based social network
— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) April 25, 2023
A temporary badge lets your followers know you're on Barcelona and send them to your profile if they have the app.
You can't add it back to your profile once you remove it pic.twitter.com/v4eHgSwVRQ
Instagram’s shift toward more written content can be linked to the changing habits of its users. According to the Meta Group social network, users increasingly prefer to send private messages rather than post photos in their news feed. “Friends post a lot more to stories and send a lot more DMs than they post to Feed,” said Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, in July 2022 on his Twitter account no less!
Instagram already looked to jump on the bandwagon of this trend of the written word by recently launching its “Notes” format. This new type of post allows users to write texts of up to 60 characters which are only visible temporarily. Like Stories, Notes are available for 24 hours. — ETX Studio
I guess for me it’s not just that I suck at making videos. It’s that I don’t see my actual friend’s posts and they don’t see mine, and I see the same people over and over and over then the feed goes “you’re all caught up!”
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) July 26, 2022
