Subjects. Mastodon. Blue sky. Substack notes. Post Office. Nostr. Pourable. In the months following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the text-based social network formerly known as Twitter, there has been no shortage of X competitors. Today you can add another startup to that lineup: Lyrak, a new X rival that aims to differentiate itself by focusing on real-time news and monetization options for creators, like X, but with Fediverse integrations similar to Instagram’s Threads.
The Fediverse refers to the open source social network of interconnected servers based on the ActivityPub social networking protocol. Mastodon is the best known of the federated social apps, but Meta has also sensed a shift toward the web and built its newest social network, Threads, with ActivityPub integrations in mind.
Lyrak plans to combine the best of what Twitter has to offer with the ActiviyPub integration to allow users to interact with a wider audience on other connected social networks such as Mastodon and others.
This integration isn’t live yet, but the team says they’ll start working on it in a few months. Once live, Lyrak users will be able to see posts from Mastodon users and vice versa.
Founded by London-based web designer and marketer Rishi Siva, Lyrak is named after a main character from the TV show His Dark Materials, Lyra. Siva says that Lyra discovers new worlds, and because Lyrak also strives to create something better, it seemed like a good source of inspiration.
The founder came up with the idea after spending some time helping small businesses build websites so they could make money online and attract customers. At one point, Siva also developed a Thumbtack-like app, but the COVID-19 pandemic affected its ability to grow as many local artisans were unable to work at that time.
Still, he expresses a desire to help users better monetize their content and skills online.
“Our lower fees and 50 percent share of advertising revenue with creators further support this goal,” notes Siva.
In comparison, X does not publicly disclose its percentage, which can vary depending on the type of post, demographics, geography, and other factors. Additionally, revenue is only generated through ads Shown to verified users (paid subscribers).
Siva is also unhappy with the direction X is taking and the way it is affecting YouTubers.
“After Musk took over Twitter, I saw a significant change in the way the platform behaved and the types of accounts it promoted. It’s disappointing to see that all the tech leaders I admire have ignored this and are still using Twitter [X]” he noted, citing the issues surrounding far-right groups and anti-Semitic content on X’s platform.
However, he admits that Twitter/X remains the best place for real-time news, which is why it remains top of mind despite the changes. Threads, on the other hand, doesn’t prioritize real-time messaging outside of sports, and Siva calls it “basically a text version of Instagram.”
He believes Mastodon and Bluesky will ultimately be too complicated for regular users, but Lyrak could benefit from their networks through Fedivers integrations. (Technically, Bluesky is not affiliated with Mastodon as it uses a different protocol, but work is underway to build bridges between the two.)
Lyrak says it will initially focus on attracting journalists to join the network to help it become a real-time social app. To attract them, Lyrak will allow verified journalists to share content based on their interests in users’ home feeds and offer tools to send them notifications to people who regularly click on their links. (The latter is similar to Artifact – RIP – which alerts users to new articles from reporters and writers they have followed.)
The startup will also look to attract people who sell digital products and will launch dedicated tools for this audience later in May. Creators can offer subscriptions and collect tips to their followers.
Another upcoming feature will include AI tools such as a response engine and user-generated AI characters, also planned for May.
The company plans to generate revenue through ads like X, but also through a timely 10% reduction on paid posts, subscriptions, tips, digital products and other AI features.
To avoid app store fees, Lyrak’s website allows users to deposit funds into the app that they can use to pay the developers. (However, funds added through in-app purchases will require Apple to pay the 30% fee.)
Another idea adopted by sites like Reddit is a reputation score, which reflects the value a user brings to the community through their comments, reposts, likes, and inviting others to the platform. This will be combined with AI moderation efforts and human moderators to ensure the security of the app, the team promises.
“After our initial launch and a few weeks of bug fixes, we plan to release new features regularly,” says Siva. “The advantage of a startup developing a social app is that we have a new perspective on things. We don’t get stuck in old ways of thinking, which allows us to innovate and create features that truly benefit our users,” he adds.
Lyrak is built by a team of five, most of whom are based in London. (The fifth person is also moving to London soon.) The startup is currently bootstrapped and available for download on iOS.