this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2023

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This magazine is dedicated to discussions on the federated social networking ecosystem, which includes decentralized and open-source social media platforms. Whether you are a user, developer, or simply interested in the concept of decentralized social media, this is the place for you. Here you can share your knowledge, ask questions, and engage in discussions on topics such as the benefits and challenges of decentralized social media, new and existing federated platforms, and more. From the latest developments and trends to ethical considerations and the future of federated social media, this category covers a wide range of topics related to the Fediverse.

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From the CEO of Mastodon: What to know about Threads (blog.joinmastodon.org)

submitted 1 year ago by developerjustin@kbin.social to c/fediverse@kbin.social

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There’s been a lot of speculation around what Threads will be and what it means for Mastodon. We’ve put together some of the most common questions and our responses based on what was launched today.

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[–] nostalgicgamerz@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

S̶̶̶o̶̶̶.̶.̶.̶.̶i̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶s̶̶̶o̶̶̶u̶̶̶n̶̶̶d̶̶̶s̶̶̶ ̶l̶̶̶i̶̶̶k̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶M̶̶̶a̶̶̶s̶̶̶t̶̶̶o̶̶̶d̶̶̶o̶̶̶n̶̶̶ ̶c̶̶̶h̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶g̶̶̶e̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶t̶̶̶h̶̶̶e̶̶̶i̶̶̶r̶̶̶ ̶m̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶o̶̶̶n̶̶̶ ̶n̶̶̶o̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶w̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶t̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶g̶̶̶ ̶t̶̶̶o̶̶̶ ̶h̶̶̶a̶̶̶v̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶c̶̶̶o̶̶̶m̶̶̶m̶̶̶u̶̶̶n̶̶̶i̶̶̶c̶̶̶a̶̶̶t̶̶̶i̶̶̶o̶̶̶n̶̶̶s̶̶̶ ̶w̶̶̶i̶̶̶t̶̶̶h̶̶̶ ̶M̶̶̶e̶̶̶t̶̶̶a̶̶̶ ̶a̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶a̶̶̶l̶̶̶l̶̶̶.̶.̶.̶.̶s̶̶̶h̶̶̶i̶̶̶t̶̶̶ ̶ ̶
I made a mistake, it was Fosstodon. They told Meta to fuck off. https://hub.fosstodon.org/assets/images/meeting-with-meta-email.webp

Mastodon is 100% a competitor to #Meta, and if I were #Mastodon, I would watch my back since everything Meta does is only for the benefit (or the endgame is) for themselves and their market share. Best case scenario would for Meta to extinguish Mastodon and have everyone go to #threads.

I do not understand why Mastedon is downplaying the very likely scenario of Meta EEE'ing the shit out of ActivityPub once they get people to migrate to Threads

[–] slicedcheesegremlin@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whelp, time to pack up I guess. Mastodon is the biggest player in the fediverse right now, so if Meta EEE's us then the fediverse as a concept is doomed.

[–] ChemicalRascal@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We have the foreknowledge of seeing EEE happen with XMPP/Google Chat, now. We can fight back against EEE against ActivityPub as it actually happens, with instances defederating with Meta and so on, when they start actually taking those negative actions. It's gonna be fine.

[–] slicedcheesegremlin@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can we actually fight back, though? most of the people using the Fedi are on Mastodon, primarily coming from places like Twitter and Reddit because of the recent drama. The biggest complaint new people have is about how complicated Masto and other fediverse services are to get into for people who aren't tech savvy, between choosing different instances and figuring out how to use them. Meanwhile, Meta provides a familiar, convenient experience from a brand they already know, even with its horrible reputation. Then when 90% of "fediverse" users are on Threads instead of the rest of the fedi, they'll announce that they are dropping support for ActivityPub and there will only be a few thousand people left elsewhere to mourn it.

[–] Eggyhead@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

I think it’s worth noting that many more of us are aware of EEE than in the past, and while meta is very well known, it’s also kind of infamous. While some services have brand loyalty, meta kind of has a mix of brand apathy or brand repulsiveness to a lot of people. I think the most loyalty you might find would be in people who purchase into the quest ecosystem, or are avid users of Instagram.

I think enough of us are aware of the circumstances that when Meta eventually does start taking steps towards the “extension” phase, they’re going to get called out immediately, and communities are going to better able to resist than in the past.

[–] ForestOrca@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Umm, what is EEE? TY!! I found this: https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/EEE, so I'm totally confused.

[–] hiyaaaaa23@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I understand all the fear around meta. However on federated platforms, is all competition not a good thing?

Also I have to imagine the overlap between the type of people currently on federated platforms, and those willing to use any platform made by meta is rather slim.

Also what do you think about the comparisons with XMPP?

Just curious to hear your thoughts

[–] mycelium_underground@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

when a large monopolistic company is trying to join the fediverse, its not because they want to play fair. They literally can not try and play fair, if their profits are not continually growing, then they are legally not representing the best interest of the shareholders. if you actually believe that meta joining the fediverse has an altruistic motive, or they they will not act in a way that benefits their shareholders(to kill any competition that takes any of their profit in any way), then you are probably not looking at the full story and need to consider if you are capable of thinking.

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[–] Roundcat@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

TLDR: Mastodon trying their damndest to rationalize taking the money.

[–] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That's not actually the tl;dr in my opinion, but others should decide for themselves.

Whats your source on "taking the money", by the way?

[–] comedy@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did they take any money? Genuinely asking, hadn't heard they did...

[–] meat_popsicle@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If they did the contract would be under an NDA. No way for us to find that shit out - you just have to watch the enshittification happen as the early birds get paid.

[–] admiralteal@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Meta is public. A transaction like that could not be done in secret.

[–] meat_popsicle@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Meta is a publicly traded company - that doesn’t mean they have business arrangements the outside world doesn’t know about. They’re held to public reporting obligations and have a Board of Directors hand-picked by Zuck (since he still has the majority control of voting shares).

A transaction like that is done in secret all the time, each and every day.

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[–] 0xtero@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

XMPP did not exist on its own outside of nerd circles, while ActivityPub enjoys the support and brand recognition of Mastodon.

That's either a really tasty self-irony or just delusional. I really hope no one thinks Mastodon is anything but a nerd circle.

[–] rodhlann@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Will a large platform like Meta joining Mastodon overwhelm smaller servers?

This could be interesting for Kbin, it's true that Mastodon shouldn't see an influx of Threads only content, but the Microblog for Kbin may be overwhelmed, since it's followed by tag, at least how I'm using it, not user

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Kbin tags work the same way. Every person you see in the microblog tag is directly followed by someone on Kbin.

I have purposely been going out and following interesting Mastodon accounts from Kbin to ensure that they're being brought over into the Kbin feed and put into the proper magazines.

[–] stopthatgirl7@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m still pretty much “wait and see” on this. A lot of folks are predicting gloom and doom, but also have a lot of good points. Meta shouldn’t be trusted in general, but they also haven’t done anything yet - they haven’t even implemented ActivityPub yet.

I think it’s more they’re trying to make a Twitter-killer then kill Mastodon from the inside. They want people on their site so they can show them ads, and they want to get those people from Twitter. ActivityPub integration is another feature they can use to get attention.

[–] BedSharkPal@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

A company exists to make money - period. I struggle to see why Meta making money off ActivityPub is a good thing.

There's just no good reason to have a profit motive in social media when it simply doesn't need to be there.

[–] BobQuasit@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

There's just no good reason to have a profit motive in social media when it simply doesn't need to be there.

Exactly! In that regard, it's like health care. The profit motive can only harm the public.

[–] BobQuasit@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

ActivityPub integration is another feature they can use to get attention.

See, that's what I don't understand. ActivityPub means nothing to the vast majority of potential Threads users. There's no way that Meta is going to use ActivityPub to gain users; all they have to do is what they HAVE done, leverage Instagram. The only thing that makes sense to me is that they may be hoping that federation will allow them to get around the EU's limitations.

But even that doesn't really make sense. Zuck doesn't really care that much about regulations. He breaks them all the time. Which leaves me with the question, why ActivityPub? What aren't we seeing?

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