Blog Post: Will Project 92 Soon Be Available in an App Store Near You?
By Abbey Szumloz
Image Source (Heath, 2023)
After months of hearing whispers about Meta’s new text-based social platform, conversation now alludes to the app potentially launching as soon as mid-July, 2023.
This new platform has been code-named Project 92 or P92 and unofficially called Threads or Barcelona. Time will tell what the chosen name will be. Chris Cox, Meta’s chief product officer, publicly stated that this app provides an opportunity for “creators and public figures who are interested in having a platform that is sanely run, that they believe that they can trust and rely upon for distribution” (Heath, 2023). With Twitter recently bought by Elon Musk in October of 2022, Cox is believed to be referring to the consistent controversies that have ensued since then. Since P92 will be primarily text-based, the public can expect this app to serve as a direct competitor to Twitter.
While little is known about the full potential of the app, the maximum character count of posts is said to be set at 500 characters. For comparison, Twitter’s current maximum character count stands at 280 for the general population and an astounding 4,000 characters for subscribed members. As previously stated, while content will be text-based on P92, users will be able to attach photos and/or videos to their messages. Early screenshots of the app show the interface’s design to be a mix between Twitter’s Newsfeed and Instagram’s Direct Messaging format. It is unknown what the advertising capabilities will look like, but if ads are present on the platform, they will most likely follow Meta’s current advertising policies.
When P92 officially launches, the app will be promoted inside of Instagram, as Meta hopes to build-up the platform using Instagram’s current demographic. Furthermore, P92 will directly connect to a user’s current Instagram account. This includes the same log-in credentials as well as the same username across both platforms, simplifying the sign-up process.
This isn’t the first app Meta has tried to launch under the potential name Threads. In 2019, Meta produced a messaging-based app that was designed to “focus on building stronger, more constant connections between smaller, enclosed groups” (Hutchinson, 2019). While the app was supposed to be in response to Snapchat’s continuous popularity, it was unfortunately shut down less than two years after its release.
Hopefully, with the current social media environment and users’ desire for a shiny new platform, this second iteration of Threads will make a much more resounding and long-term impact. We look forward to adding it to our long list of social media ad placements!
Sources:
Heath, A. (2023, June 8). This is what Instagram’s upcoming Twitter competitor looks like. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754304/instagram-meta-twitter-competitor-threads-activitypub
Hutchinson, A. (2019, August 28). Instagram is developing a separate messaging app called “threads.” Social Media Today. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-is-developing-a-separate-messaging-app-called-threads/561797/