Meta’s response to Elon Musk revealing Twitter rival

Cox reportedly said Meta was in discussions with Oprah Winfrey

Meta is ready to introduce a new standalone app in response to Twitter. The app, internally codenamed Project 92, will be launched through Instagram. The upcoming app was demonstrated during a company-wide meeting led by Meta̵[ads1]7;s chief product officer Chris Cox, who called the project “our answer to Twitter.” The Verge reported. The app’s public name can be threads.

The new app will allow users to bring their accounts and followers to other apps that support ActivityPub, including Mastodon. Meta has been testing the new app with celebrities and influencers and gave employees a sneak peek this week.

“We’ve heard from creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that’s run sensibly, that they believe they can trust and rely on for distribution,” Cox said in an apparent reference to the management of Twitter under Elon Musk.

He said the company’s goals for the app were “security, ease of use, reliability” and to make sure creators have a “stable place to build and grow their audience.”

Cox reportedly said Meta was in discussions with Oprah Winfrey, who has more than 42 million followers on Twitter, and the Dalai Lama, who has nearly 19 million, as potential users, adding that coding for the app began in January and it would be made available “as soon as we can”.

Screenshots of the app purchased by The Verge show a mobile app with a look and feel similar to Twitter, with verified users, like and share buttons and a messaging option.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk also responded to Meta’s plans to launch Project 92. Writing “Zuck my tongue”, he made the tweet in response to a link reporting that Meta had tried to get hold of the Dalia Lama.