Meta’s biggest platform, Facebook, is struggling to attract the attention of a younger audience
10 March 2023 - 18:26
byShubhum Kalia, shubhendu Deshmukh and Yuvraj Malik
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
The Meta logo in Davos, Switzerland. Picture: ARND WIEGMANN/REUTERS
Meta Platforms is exploring plans to launch a new social media app in its bid to displace Twitter as the world's “digital town square”.
“We're exploring a stand-alone decentralised social network for sharing text updates. We believe there's an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Meta’s app will be based on a similar framework that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that was launched in 2016.
A Twitter-like app would allow Meta to take advantage of the current chaos at the Elon Musk-led company, where cost-cutting has been rampant.
Twitter has been struggling to hold on to its advertising base since Musk's takeover of the platform late in 2022. Companies have pulled back spending following Twitter’s move to restore suspended accounts and release a paid account verification that resulted in scammers impersonating firms.
Meta’s plans come at a time when its biggest platform, Facebook, is struggling to attract the attention of a younger audience, while its huge investments in the metaverse, a virtual world where users interact and work, show little signs of paying off, at least in the near term.
Its video-sharing app, Instagram, is also facing stiff competition as content makers or hit influencers abandon the platform for TikTok.
It was not immediately clear when Meta would roll out the new app.
“The history of Meta is that they are much better acquirers than they are innovators or developers ... as far as copying Twitter, this is just a defensive move,” said Thomas Hayes, chair and managing member of New York-based Great Hill Capital.
“They're just trying everything ... at least with a mini blogging site like Twitter, there's some expectation that it could start to make money out of much quicker timeline than the metaverse investment.”
Meta's investments in the metaverse will not drive revenue growth until 2030, analysts have said.
Meta shares were marginally higher at $181.7 in early trade on Friday. They have gained about 51% so far in 2023.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Meta considers social media app to rival Twitter
Meta’s biggest platform, Facebook, is struggling to attract the attention of a younger audience
Meta Platforms is exploring plans to launch a new social media app in its bid to displace Twitter as the world's “digital town square”.
“We're exploring a stand-alone decentralised social network for sharing text updates. We believe there's an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests,” a Meta spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Meta’s app will be based on a similar framework that powers Mastodon, a Twitter-like service that was launched in 2016.
A Twitter-like app would allow Meta to take advantage of the current chaos at the Elon Musk-led company, where cost-cutting has been rampant.
Twitter has been struggling to hold on to its advertising base since Musk's takeover of the platform late in 2022. Companies have pulled back spending following Twitter’s move to restore suspended accounts and release a paid account verification that resulted in scammers impersonating firms.
Meta’s plans come at a time when its biggest platform, Facebook, is struggling to attract the attention of a younger audience, while its huge investments in the metaverse, a virtual world where users interact and work, show little signs of paying off, at least in the near term.
Its video-sharing app, Instagram, is also facing stiff competition as content makers or hit influencers abandon the platform for TikTok.
It was not immediately clear when Meta would roll out the new app.
“The history of Meta is that they are much better acquirers than they are innovators or developers ... as far as copying Twitter, this is just a defensive move,” said Thomas Hayes, chair and managing member of New York-based Great Hill Capital.
“They're just trying everything ... at least with a mini blogging site like Twitter, there's some expectation that it could start to make money out of much quicker timeline than the metaverse investment.”
Meta's investments in the metaverse will not drive revenue growth until 2030, analysts have said.
Meta shares were marginally higher at $181.7 in early trade on Friday. They have gained about 51% so far in 2023.
Reuters
Italy pursues Meta for potential €870m tax bill
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Snapchat kicks far too few underage children off app, UK regulator shows
DUNCAN McLEOD: Western paranoia turns TikTok into a bogeyman
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.