1y ago

Meta is connecting Threads more deeply with the fediverse

www.theverge.com

Technology @lemmy.ml

dvdnet62 @feddit.nl

1y ago

Meta is connecting Threads more deeply with the fediverse

www.theverge.com /2024/6/25/24185226/meta-threads-fediverse-likes-replies

43 comments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish
- Still just on the first step, embrace.
  Apparently threads didn't support federating replies (comments) on posts until this.
  And you still won't be able to reply to the federated comments on posts, just see them.
  They are really not in a hurry to properly support federating. I honestly didn't realize Threads' federation support was this pathetic.
  
  They haven't figured out a good way to turn the federated data into cash yet.
  
  I honestly didn’t realize Threads’ federation support was this pathetic.
  Maybe they noticed that a lot of servers in the wider Fediverse had preemptively defederated from them, and decided it wasn't worth their time.
  
  it was literally in beta and the majority of the user base on threads don't know what the fediverse is.
- Maybe. Or this will play out like Slack and IRC.
  Initially, Slack integrated with IRC. Which was great! It meant I could use xchat to talk with folks, and could set up simple bots using standard IRC tools.
  And then Slack killed that feature...but it absolutely didn't kill IRC, because die hard IRC users never cared about Slack in the first place.
  My prediction is it'll be the same --- what sort of people will be attracted to Threads vs a smaller "proper" instance? Probably the sort of people who would never consider a federated platform in the first place.
  Just speculation and I could certainly be wrong...
  
  we just need to make sure that we don't rely on their instance(s) too heavily so we only have minimal losses when they eventually do drop support.
  
  How long ago did those things happen, and what makes you think the uber wealthy capitalist owner-class hasn't learned from their past "shortcomings"?
  Why would multi-billion dollar corporations allow things like that to happen to them again?
- The Fediverse has 1 million active users. Threads has 130 million active users. This is not an EEE play because a 100% successful EEE play would amount to increasing the Threads userbase by less than 1%. Meta is doing this for non-EEE reasons.
  One possible non-EEE reason would be to have plausible deniability for monopolistic practices. If they make a show of interoperating with irrelevant nobodies like us, they can pretend to be a nice tech company rather than a mean anti-competitive monopoly.
  
  Completely agree.
  The Wikipedia article itself has this to say:
  Extinguish: When extensions become a de facto standard because of their dominant market share, they marginalize competitors who are unable to support the new extensions.
  By that logic Lemmy/Mastodon/fediverse are already extinguished. Those of us in the fediverse are already "marginalized" wrt Twitter/Threads/Facebook/whatever.
  There are very good reasons to hate Meta, but personally, I think EEE isn't the biggest issue.
  
  Possibly preventing being locked out of the EU.
- Neva 4get
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope
  
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_recognition_(psychology)
- you can't EEE an open protocol.
  
  I believe google hangouts and xmpp would like to have a word with you. There was probably a universe where federated xmpp was as ubiquitous as sms, but in this universe, google federated, brought users over with cool features, and then defederated when they had all the users.
  If you want another example from the same company in modern times, look at chrome and http/css/js. Google's chokehold on the web ecosystem with chrome means that whatever they do, everyone else has to follow suit or not be compatible with the browser that something like ~75-90% of users use
I follow Biden on Threads via Mastodon. Not that I’m any huge fan of the guy, but I like to keep up with his social media presence all the same. I see value in this integration despite so many people being so aggressively opposed. The Fediverse has very few normies. I still appreciate the ability to observe their activities from a distance.
- Do you have any more info on this?
  I use Mastadon pretty regularly and I feel like I somewhat know how it works, yet I read the Threads FAQ on federation and I have no clue what's going on.
  But yes, the ability to subscribe to "mainstream" accounts in Threads from mastadon servers (if they allow federation with Meta) would be a good feature.
  
  Going entirely off memory, but the Threads user needs to manually go into their settings and turn on federation. Then your Mastodon or Lemmy server will need to not defederate with Threads. A bunch have done so preemptively out of EEE fears.
My (self-hosted) Mastodon server seems unable to view profiles on Threads. As far as I can tell, there's nobody to talk to about that.
I don't have high hopes about Meta having good intentions here, but I am eager to see platforms that would have previously been walled gardens open up to the federated model. I do think we have some work to do on the open source side to manage the potential massive increase in exposure once Threads users can follow users of other software.
Of course you can pick a server that blocks Threads if you just don't want to deal with that.
What's Threads and why do we need in in the fediverse? I don't have Facebook and don't use any Meta products, so I'm clueless ? Is it like closed source Mastodon or Lemmy?
- Its a microblogging platform like mastodon and no, we don't need it in the fediverse. There's exactly one explanation for why they would want to join.
  
  Remember, if Meta can collect your data this way, any bad actor or government can as well.
  
  So my shitposting does has value?!

43 comments