Instagram, owned by Meta Platforms, is set to launch a text-based app to compete with Twitter, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the development. According to the report, Facebook’s parent company is testing the application with influencers and select creators.
Meta has been contacting talent agencies and celebrities to assess their interest in using an early version of the app, which will be connected with Instagram, according to Alex Heath, a reporter at the Verge, 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.
Instagram, which is owned by Meta Platforms Inc., did not immediately reply to a comment request from Bloomberg. Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter has forced some users to explore for alternatives, creating a market opportunity.
Linda Yaccarino: Twitter’s new CEO
Elon Musk has appointed a new CEO of Twitter, little over six months after his contentious purchase of the social media company.
Linda Yaccarino, the former chief of advertising at NBCUniversal, would be in charge of the site’s business operations, according to the billionaire, as reported by the BBC.
“Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app,” he said on Twitter, confirming his decision a day after stoking anticipation by announcing that he had found a new employer but did not divulge their name.
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Yaccarino grew up in an Italian-American household. She worked for Turner Entertainment for 15 years after graduating from Penn State before joining NBCUniversal, where she handled around 2,000 employees and was engaged in the creation of its streaming service.
Her work has been distinguished by tight cooperation with major companies, where she has found chances for product placement and persuaded them to advertise alongside television series, including those with a reputation for edgy material, such as Sex and the City when it initially aired.
She has also established ties in new media with companies such as Apple News, Snapchat, and YouTube.
In a 2005 article in an industry newspaper, she was described as a busy, married mother of two children, then ages 13 and 9.
Claire Atkinson of Business Insider has tracked Yaccarino’s career for two decades and believes her history in advertising might benefit Twitter, which has seen its ad revenues decline drastically since Musk’s acquisition.
