Artifact, “the TikTok text” founded by the creators of Instagram

These are not easy times for social networks, which are trying to find the formula for success. There are few certainties and many doubts. Twitter has decided to change its algorithm, so that the user receives recommendations from people who follow and from those who do not. Elon Musk you also rely on a paid subscription with exclusive features. Instagram has changed its mind again: photographs will once again take priority over short videos, thus focusing on more balanced content. And Facebook fails to keep the audience young.

The list of social networks is much longer: BeReal, Pinterest, YouTube, WeChat, Twitch, Snapchat, Mastodon… As if there is little competition in the sector, a new platform has just been born.

This is Artifact, sort of TikTok news Created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, founders of Instagram. The app uses algorithmic predictions identical to those of the Chinese social network, which Systrom sees as “the future of social networks”.

The co-founders of Instagram, who left Facebook in 2018 amid tensions with the parent company. They formed a new company to explore ideas for the next generation of social apps. Five years later they launched Artifact, a personalized news feed that uses machine learning to understand your interests and share those articles with friendsas explained by journalist Casey Newton in The Verge.

Artifact is a kind of TikTok for text

Artifact is a kind of TikTok for text, although some find similarities with Google Reader, the browser-integrated news reader and manager that made it possible to organize and quickly access all the news on configured pages from a web interface. Its creators define it as “a personalized news service powered by artificial intelligence”. Other specialists such as Newton believe this is true of Twitter, where text has also prevailed until now.

According to The Verge, the app features a feed of popular articles culled from a curated list of publishers ranging from traditional outlets like The New York Times to small-scale blogs on niche topics. The user will enter those that interest him. From that selection, the platform will provide you with similar posts and stories in the future, just like watching videos on TikTok’s “For You” page.

In addition, the creators work on a direct inbox so that the user can discuss the publications he reads privately with other friends.

Its algorithm is the main novelty of this application, which follows in the footsteps of TikTok. The innovation of the Chinese social network was to show posts using only algorithmic predictions, regardless of who our friends were or who we followed. And it soon became the the most downloaded app in the world.

Beyond its algorithm, Artifact is firmly committed to quality text and content. And no fake news. Nothing simple given the precedents. Facebook has been criticized for its judgment, even for its permissiveness. leads the same way Chirping since the arrival of Elon Musk, who has promised that it will be a public square, where all users will be able to express themselves without fear, even if this makes it a site without filters.

As reported by The Verge, Systrom is serious about providing readers with high-quality news and information. That means an effort to only include publishers that adhere to quality publishing standards, though the company hasn’t yet disclosed which publishers it will include in its system. It also ensures that there will be no room for publications promoting falsehoods.

The business model is yet to be decided, according to this medium. Advertising would be an obvious choice, Systrom says. Another option: reach revenue sharing agreements with publishers, more subscriptions.

There is no release date yet for Artifact, which is currently “in private beta”. Anyone can sign up, because it’s available for both Android and iOS.

With information from La Vanguardia