Apps
Instagram co-founders launch Artifact, a TikTok-like text platform
The app is currently in a private beta, but you can sign up for the waitlist.
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UPDATE 2/23/2023: Artifact is now available to the general public after an invite-only period. It is available on both Android and iOS. You can read the original report below.
Two estranged Instagram co-founders have teamed up again to launch a new app, Artifact.
Artifact is a personalized news feed app that uses machine learning to generate articles and news from many publications.
Like TikTok, tapping on a specific article tells the app what you like. And you’ll start seeing more articles and posts similar to that in the future.
The app was developed by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, two co-founders of Instagram, alongside other former Instagram employees. The pair left Facebook in 2018 after tensions with Instagram’s parent company became unavoidable.
Now the pair is back with Artifact, a new kind of app. While not a social platform, it uses many of the same theories and practices that many social apps use to deliver content that interests users.
You can sign up for the waitlist today. The app is currently in private beta and is only available via invite.
The only feature available on the platform is the central feed that ranks articles based on your likes. However, Systrom told Platformer that they are working on additional features he thinks will be appealing.
One is another feed with articles shared by people you follow. The other is direct messaging, so you can discuss article topics privately.
Companies have slowly been phasing out text-based posts in many apps in recent years. It will be interesting to see if Artifact has what it takes to change that narrative in the future.
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