Sure, one could argue that Meta is already the top dog when it comes to social media—after all, Mark Zuckerberg’s giant already has Facebook and Instagram under its umbrella, among other things.

But apps like Twitter and TikTok have kept Meta from having what seems like a monopoly across all of social media, and for obvious reasons, that’s a good thing. It’s possible, however, we could see that change.

First, there’s TikTok. Immensely popular among Gen Z and with other generations enjoying the video-based app too, TikTok has kept Instagram racing to keep up with it and, for the most part, succeeded—Instagram offers similar content creation tools, though many users will simply make their original videos on TikTok and post them to Instagram.

But it’s those tools that Instagram offers—many of them a riff on TikTok—that has it poised to stand in for TikTok should the app be forced to shut down. And lately, that’s looking all the more possible.

TikTok has been banned from government-owned devices across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Belgium, on the grounds of security issues potentially leading to compromised government data. In the United States, TikTok is being investigated for its ties to China, with the Justice Department and the FBI reportedly actively looking into ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. This news comes on the heels of the Biden administration’s pressure on TikTok to part ways with its Chinese ownership, reportedly demanding it sell its app through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

If ByteDance refuses the sale of TikTok, it faces banishment in the United States, and other countries would certainly follow suit, saying bye-bye to everyone’s favorite (or second favorite) app. If the United States is successful in its campaign to sever TikTok from Chinese control, its users would retain access—but at what cost to the app?

While we wait to see when or if this matter resolves, Instagram might as well polish its TikTok-like facets in the hope of welcoming the creators and influencers (or de-influencers) who will potentially be left without a home base to churn out content.

Then there’s that other app completely riddled with issues: Twitter. We won’t reflect on all its ups and downs (but mostly downs) here, because if you read this blog, you probably already know. What might come as news, however, is the word that Meta is building a decentralized, text-based social network—maybe the closest thing to a Twitter replacement we’ve seen thus far.

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

Instagram’s Adam Mosseri is reportedly taking the lead on the project, which is still in its early stages.

With Meta being the most powerful in the social media game, a successful effort would likely be the nail in Twitter’s coffin—and add yet another app under Meta’s growing umbrella. That the app would be decentralized, though, means users would likely be able to set up their own servers (a la Mastodon), and decentralized networks are typically less vulnerable to government scrutiny.

There are no guarantees that Meta’s effort will be a success, and even if it gets off the ground, it’s not the only alternative. It was reported that Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey released his alternative to the app, Bluesky, as an invite-only beta on the App Store at the end of February. Bluesky also takes a decentralized approach to social media, signaling a trend for Twitter alternatives now and possibly into the future.

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