Twitter rivals including Meta are trying to capitalize on Musk-induced chaos

New start-ups and other social platforms sense opportunity as Twitter grapples with changes from new owner Elon Musk .

SAN FRANCISCO — Last month, employees of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, participated in a virtual brainstorming session to discuss how to create the next Twitter.

Among the ideas that Meta employees talked about was a wider rollout of a feature called Instagram Notes, where people can share short posts on the photo-sharing site with their followers and friends, according to posts from the conversation that were viewed by The New York Times. Others said Meta should create a text-focused app using Instagram's technology or add another feed to Instagram. They threw names for features like Realtime, Real Reels, and Instant.

"Twitter is in crisis and Meta needs its mojo," one employee wrote from Meta in a message. . "Let's get their bread and butter."

A race is on to dethrone Twitter and capitalize on the chaos of its new ownership under tech mogul Elon Musk which bought the social media company for $44 billion in late October. Since then, questions have swirled about Twitter's viability as Mr Musk laid off thousands of staff, began changing the platform's content rules and proclaimed the company was in financial trouble. so difficult that bankruptcy was possible.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Sensing the opportunity, all kinds of people and companies rushed to fill the potential breach. Besides Meta employees, former Twitter employees have launched projects for what they say is the next Twitter. Startups like Post and niche services like Mastodon and Hive Social have also popped up, as has microblogging platform Tumblr.

Some of these services present as less toxic versions of Twitter, which reversed suspensions of some users and reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of former President Donald J. Trump. Others are positioning themselves as heralds of a completely new era in social media.

"The toxicity surrounding Twitter and certain behaviors of the new owner led me to believe that there is a huge opportunity for a microblogging platform with a different business model,” said Scott Galloway, Post investor and professor of marketing at New York University. opportunities to take from social media platforms, and people are feeling the opportunity."

Since Mr. Musk took over Twitter, some prominent users have said they would leave the service, including talk show host Whoopi Goldberg, producer Shonda Rhimes and singer Sara Bareilles. Other users have expressed interest in migrating to other services. The number of Twitter users is not clear since Mr. Musk deprived the company rise, but he said usage was at an all-time high.

"A record number of users to see if Twitter is dead, which ironically makes it more alive than ever! he tweeted last month.

Mr. Musk did not respond to requests for comment, and Meta declined to comment.

After Mr. Musk bought Twitter, an alternative service that immediately...