Meta/Instagram launched a new product called Threads today (working title project92). It adds a new interface for creating text posts and replying to them, using your Instagram account. Of note, Meta has stated that Threads plans to support ActivityPub in the future, and allow federation with ActivityPub services. If you actually look at your Threads profile page in the app your username has a threads.net tag next to it - presumably to support future federation.
Per the link, a number of fediverse communities are pledging to block any Meta-directed instances that should exist in the future. Thus instance content would not be federated to Meta instances, and Meta users would not be able to interact with instance content.
I’m curious what the opinions on this here are. I personally feel like Meta has shown time and time again that they are not very good citizens of the Internet; beyond concerns of an Eternal September triggered by federated Instagram, I worry that bringing their massive userbase to the fediverse would allow them to influence it to negative effect.
I also understand how that could be seen to go against the point of federated social media in the first place, and I’m eager to hear more opinions. What do you think?
Remember when Facebook and Google both were using XMPP protocol? They just need fediverse users for now to get free content. They will always delink when they can. That’s profit logic for you.
But if we dont defederate, we would get free content from their userbase, won’t we? And people from thread would realize they get the same content here, without the ads ?
Will they though? Look how many still used the reddit app when there were very clearly better alternatives.
Not only that. They are coming HERE to ask questions about how to set up the reddit app, which is mindboggling for me
This is exactly why I don’t believe they intend to federate openly anyway. Unlike email or XMPP, ActivityPub content is public, which means it is associated with your brand. They will likely only allow apps and instances which they approve, and which agree to tie into their monetization APIs. Just like reddit should have done with third party apps, if they weren’t run by the stupidest fucking sentient creature on the planet.
Exactly this. I probably would not have quit reddit if the only change at the end of June was RIF sticking in some ad row every 10 posts.