Facebook reportedly close to launching a standalone app for anonymous users


In a distinct break from the model that made it so famous, Facebook is working on a standalone app for anonymous users, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The new app is expected in the coming weeks and will create a space for users to interact without using their real names.
The app is a departure from Facebook's original appeal of being a "way to establish your online identity, and to map out the connections you have to other friends and family," wrote the Times' Mike Isaac. The social network is instead hedging toward the likes of Reddit and Whisper, two domains that allow users to use pseudonyms or be completely anonymous, respectively.
The app's development is reportedly being helmed by Josh Miller, a product manager at Facebook, and has apparently been in the works for the last year. Read more at The New York Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Are we facing a summer of riots?
Today's Big Question Anti-immigrant unrest in Essex has sparked fears of a summer of disorder
-
The best UK waterside pubs to enjoy the summer heat
The Week Recommends These are a few pubs with 'waterside charm' to 'soak it all in'
-
Battle of Orgreave: the long wait for answers
The Explainer Public inquiry into 1984 clash between police and striking miners a 'landmark moment for justice and accountability', says South Yorkshire mayor
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestone
Speed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two years
Speed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on X
Speed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
Disney, Universal sue AI firm over 'plagiarism'
Speed Read The studios say that Midjourney copied characters from their most famous franchises
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellites
Speed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodes
Speed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
-
Apple pledges $500B in US spending over 4 years
Speed Read This is a win for Trump, who has pushed to move manufacturing back to the US
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers