SOCIAL
Meta’s Developing a Decentralized Twitter Alternative, According to Reports

Because of course it is.
With many Twitter users unhappy about the platform’s changes under Elon Musk, and amid a growing push towards a new approach to social networking, with alternative systems of moderation and management, Meta is looking to seize the opportunity, by launching its own, Twitter-like social app, which will be focused on short, text-based updates.
As reported by Platformer and MoneyControl, Meta’s developing a new platform, currently titled ‘P92’, which sounds very similar to a Twitter feed, and interestingly, would be decentralized, aligning with the new wave social media push.
Meta has confirmed the project to Platformer via the following statement:
“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized 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.”
The project will reportedly incorporate support for decentralized social networking protocol ActivityPub, which would be Meta’s first step into the decentralized social media space. Which is a big step – Meta, in large part, is the reason why there’s been such a big push towards decentralization, due to the way that it’s gathered and controlled user data and experiences.
Now, Meta could lead the way in the next phase – which, again, makes sense, given that Meta is always working to latch onto every new trend. But it could be a significant variance in approach for the company.
Current Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is reportedly leading the charge on the new app.
Amid the disruption of Elon Musk’s takeover at Twitter, many have sought alternatives, with a raft of Twitter-like social networks cropping up – from Mastodon, to Post, to Spill, T2, and various others. A key focus of all of these alternative platforms has to embed the lessons learned from social networks past, which has seen some looking to institute alternative moderation systems from the get-go, in order to avoid the complications of bias and perceived censorship, while there’s also been a bigger push towards data portability and the capacity to take your information with you to other platforms, if you so choose.
In this context, a decentralized approach makes sense. Decentralized social networks rely on an expanded web of individual servers, which then enables different elements and communities to set different rules, and enables users to retain their information, without an overseeing company sucking in all the data, and dictating what can and cannot be done.
In theory, this makes perfect sense, but in practice, decentralized social is much more complex, putting more onus on users to understand and apply different processes, which can be frustrating for some.
Mastodon has been heavily criticized for this, with users needing to switch servers to follow others, or understand an expanding range of differing rules and parameters for each instance.
For those engaged in tech circles, and invested in the relevant outcomes, that’s okay, but the vast majority of people are not in that category, which means the added complexity is just friction that stops them from doing what they want. And with social media users already accustomed to the relative simplicity of the Web 2.0 approach, it’s a hard sell – which is why Mastodon, despite seeing a massive increase in interest following the Musk takeover, has declined in usage ever since.
(Graphic via The Guardian)
But despite the dip, there is clearly interest in this approach, which is why Meta’s paying attention. Add to this the fact that more people are now interacting via DMs than they are posting to their Facebook or Instagram feeds, and it makes sense that Meta would be exploring this approach – at the least, to ensure that if decentralized social does take off, it doesn’t miss the boat.
Meta’s already been looking to lean into the DM sharing trend, with newer functions like ‘Channels’ on Instagram, which provides a means for creators and public figures to effectively broadcast updates in chat threads.
A dedicated, text-based social network sounds fairly similar, with the added capacity to integrate data from independent servers, which, potentially, could enable Meta to both stay in touch with this shift, while also gathering up Twitter cast-offs.
There’s not much to go on as yet, so we don’t really know how it will look in practice. But it could align with several emerging trends – and if Meta can make a functional, viable Twitter alternative, which works more efficiently than Mastodon, it also then has the network capacity to promote its new platform to billions of people, something that these smaller competitors cannot do.
Still, much of the Web3 movement has cropped up in opposition to the big tech giants dominating the space. Will Web3 adopters be keen to see Meta weighing into the space?
Will that matter?
Again, while tech watchers are the most heavily invested in the decentralization push, the majority of users just want usability, and if Meta can get that element right, maybe, the rest is just details.
That, at least in theory, could see Meta winning out, and dominating through replication once again.
It’s very early days, and the project may not even make it past prototype phase. But it’s an interesting development, which could be a significant new push.
SOCIAL
Snap On How It Empowered Women’s With AR Storytellling

Snapchat has won the AR/VR category at The Drum Awards for Creativity. Here is the award-winning case study.
In France, like many western countries, public space lacks monuments honouring women. What about empowering Women’s Legacy through Augmented Reality? As a storytelling company, Snap knows that stories have the power to change hearts, minds, and behaviors. Stories create empathy, which can inspire behavior change across Snap and the broader industry. And although our industry is data-driven, we understand numbers are not a substitute for lived experience. The differing lived experience of underrepresented groups can reduce feelings of belonging, which in turn reduces opportunity to realize potential. Snap’s goal in inspiring empathy is to create a shared culture of belonging for all.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, March 8, 2023, Snap’s AR Studio has been honouring 8 emblematic women in 8 major French cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Metz and Nantes) through a unique augmented reality experience: “March 8, 8 women”. “March 8, 8 women” has been a unique opportunity to demonstrate Augmented Reality’s impact in supporting Great National Cause (French president Emmanuel Macron has declared Equity a priority for 2023), while showcasing Snap’s creative and technologic leadership in AR.
While as many women as men have marked the course of history, the vast majority of sculptures in the urban space in France (squares, gardens and streets) honour male characters. Snap’s AR Studio has thus imagined augmented reality statues of women who have left their mark on history in the fields of politics, arts and letters or resistance. These augmented reality statues are installed next to the physical statues of their male counterparts – hence creating a silent dialogue between two historical figures, a male & a female, a physical & a virtual, both having lived in the same era, walked similar fields, achieved close successes.
Each of these 8 virtual statues honours the achievements of the following 8 great women in history and helps to commemorate their contributions to French society:
Simone Veil: Champion of women’s rights, emblem of the 1975 law that legalized abortion, and the first female president of the European Parliament. Her augmented reality statue will be positioned next to the physical one of General Charles de Gaulle on the Champs-Elysées roundabout in Paris.
Simone de Beauvoir: An acclaimed writer and philosopher of the existentialist movement. As an anti-conformist, she advocated for the emancipation of women in her writings, such as her 1949 book The Second Sex, and became one of the pioneers of French feminism in the 20th century. Her augmented reality statue will be placed next to the physical one of 20th century poet and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, at Place Bellecour in Lyon.
Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun: Admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1783 and the official painter to Marie Antoinette, she achieved critical and popular success in the artistic world despite the many obstacles facing female artists of her time. Her augmented reality statue will be placed next to the physical one of 18th century artist Pierre Puget, in the Parc Borély in Marseille.
Françoise de Graffigny: One of the most emblematic female figures of 18th century French literature, best known for her philosophical essay Letters from a Peruvian Woman published in 1747. Her augmented reality statue will be positioned next to the physical one of renown philosopher Montesquieu, at Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux.
Manon Tardon: Figure of the French Resistance and Free France, she was present on May 8, 1945, in Berlin when the surrender of Nazi Germany was signed. Her augmented reality statue will be positioned next to the physical one of World War 2 hero Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, at Square Amiral Halgan in Nantes.
Josephine Baker: An American-born singer, actress, feminist, showgirl, and French resistance fighter, Josephine Baker was a spy for the Free French Forces, an emblem of the Paris of the Roaring Twenties, and an influential figure in the fight against racial segregation. Her augmented reality statue will be placed next to the physical one of resistant fighter Jean Moulin, at Gare Centrale in Metz.
Olympe de Gouges: Principal author of the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Citizen published in 1791, she is considered one of the French pioneers of feminism. Her augmented reality statue will be positioned next to the physical one of French Revolution leader Jean-Baptiste Kléber, at Place Kléber in Strasbourg.
Hubertine Auclert: Journalist, feminist activist, and founder of the society Le droit des femmes in 1876, she advocated for women’s economic independence, the right to education, and equality in marriage and divorce. Her augmented reality statue will be positioned next to the physical one of early 20th-century activist Léon Trulin, at Place du Théâtre (not far from the Lille Opera).
“Through this innovative experience installed in 8 cities in France, we want to pay tribute to 8 women who have changed French history and society through their actions, their writings, or their positions. Thanks to Snap’s augmented reality technologies, we were able to celebrate those 8 women by building their statues in the public space by placing them alongside statues of men. By establishing a silent dialogue between these historical figures, our wish is to raise public awareness of the fight for women’s rights.” — Donatien Bozon, AR Studio Director.
To design this outstanding augmented reality experience, AR Studio Paris teamed up with French Women’s Rights advocate and influencer Aude Gogny-Goubert, drew inspiration from academic essays (Women & cities, Presses universitaires François-Rabelais, 2004), and requested the patronage of SnapWomen EMEA, a Snap’s Employee Representative Group supporting Equity. An all-female panel vetted the 8 female historical figures (and their male counterpart), from more than twenty curated candidates.
It took AR Studio Paris and its partners a total of 3 months, from ideation to launch, to create true virtual monument as close to physical ones as possible. 3D artists and producers scrutinized the physical statues in order to develop a virtual counterpart replicating sculpting techniques and materials. AR engineers exploited Snap Inc. proprietary technologies (Location AR, Environment mapping, Surface Tracking…) to bring this augmented reality experience to life.
The AR experience “March 8, 8 Women” has been available since March 8, 2023, sharing, with Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Metz and Nantes citizen and visitors, 8 permanent virtual monument exclusively available on Snapchat… thus building momentum to advocate Equity across France.
Snap believes that augmented reality—digital content overlaid over the real world—represents the next major shift in computing. Like ephemeral messaging and vertical video, Snap also pioneered augmented reality. Today Snap is leading in AR, from a technology, scale, and creator perspective. Snap’s vision for AR is rooted in innovation and stems from our desire to solve problems for our community in a creative way through human-centric design, and the desire to create a more positive reality rather than escape the problems our society faces. As it turns out, Snapchatters love the world around them and the friends and family they share it with, so why not use technology to enhance it for the better?
SOCIAL
An Overview of the Evolving Data Landscape Powering AI, VR, and More [Infographic]
![An Overview of the Evolving Data Landscape Powering AI, VR, and More [Infographic] An Overview of the Evolving Data Landscape Powering AI, VR, and More [Infographic]](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1701770165_An-Overview-of-the-Evolving-Data-Landscape-Powering-AI-VR.jpg)
While AI and large language models (LLMs) become more commonplace, it’s worth considering the amount of computational power, and data storage, that these systems require to operate.
Demand for high-grade GPUs, for example, is still exceeding demand, as more tech companies and investors look to muscle in, while the big players continue to build on their data center capacity, in order to beat smaller systems out of the market.
That, inevitably, means that control over many of these new processes will eventually fall to those with the most money, and even if you have concerns about next-level computational power being governed by CEOs and corporations, there’s not a heap that you can do about it, as they need an established holding to even get in.
Well, unless a government steps in and seeks to build its own infrastructure in order to facilitate AI development, though that seems unlikely.
And it’s not just AI, with crypto processes, complex analysis, and advanced scientific discovery now largely reliant on a few key providers that have available capacity.
It’s a concern, but essentially, you can expect to see a lot more investment in big data centers and processing facilities over the coming years.
This new overview from Visual Capitalist (for Hive Digital) provides some additional context. Here, the VC team have broken down the current data center landscape, and what we’re going to need to facilitate next-level AI, VR, the metaverse, and more.
It’s an eye-opening summary. You can check out Visual Capitalists’ full overview here.
SOCIAL
30 Quick Ways to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate [Infographic]
![30 Quick Ways to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate [Infographic] 30 Quick Ways to Increase Your Website’s Conversion Rate [Infographic]](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/1701723364_30-Quick-Ways-to-Increase-Your-Websites-Conversion-Rate-Infographic.jpg)
Looking to drive more direct conversions from your website listings this holiday season?
The team from Red Website Design share 30 ways to improve your website conversion rate in this infographic.
Here’s the top five from the list:
- Include as few fields as possible on forms
- Use testimonials
- Clearly state product/service benefits
- Include subscriber and social media follower counts
- Write clear, compelling copy
Check out the infographic for more detail.
A version of this post was first published on the Red Website Design blog.
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