With the sudden popularity of Mastodon, the decentralized text-based social network, it wouldn’t be long before other social media giants would jump on board, and now Meta Platforms Inc. is already exploring its own version.

According to a report published by Moneycontrol today, the developing project is codenamed P92 and will allow users to log into it using their Instagram credentials. Meta confirmed it was developing the project but did not reveal any details about a release timeline.

“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates,” a Meta spokesperson said. “We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.”

According to the product brief, the new network will use ActivityPub, the same technology that underpins Twitter alternative Mastodon. ActivityPub is an open, decentralized social networking protocol that allows for the creation of individual servers, or instances. They can have their own rules and themes where users can participate while still linking to the larger “federated” social network, called a Fediverse.

The product will have features like Twitter’s, including tappable links, a user bio, username and verification badges. It would also allow users to follow, like and share text, images and video with other users. Since it would be connected to users’ Instagram accounts, it would populate with their name, username, bio and profile photo. By using ActivityPub in its upcoming product, Meta’s new decentralized social network will also be able to allow its users to send and receive messages users on Mastodon instances.

Several other companies have implemented, or announced plans to implement, ActivityPub in their own platforms, including the blogging app Tumblr, Flipboard and photo posting site Flickr.

The development of this project comes at a time that users have been migrating to decentralized networks after the controversial takeover of Twitter Inc. by billionaire Elon Musk. Mastodon saw a significant spike in active users between November in October, rising to 2.5 million from 300,000. Although not a decentralized network, Tumblr also received a jump in new users during that period, climbing to 92,000 installs from 47,000.

Mastodon isn’t the only decentralized social network to make a debut. Other examples include Bluesky, a project started by former Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, which launched its iOS app last week, and Damus, a decentralized social network built on Nostr, a social networking relay network protocol.

Image: Freepik