There has been significant discussion in recent weeks regarding Meta/Threads. We would like to express our disappointment with the negative and threatening tone of some of these discussions. We kindly ask everyone to engage in civil discourse and remember that not everyone will share the same opinions, which is perfectly acceptable.
When considering whether or not to defederate from Threads, we’re looking for a decision based on facts that prioritize your safety. We strive to remain neutral to make an informed choice.
First, there seem to be some misconceptions about how the Fediverse operates based on several posts. We’ve compiled some resource links to help explain the details and address any misunderstandings.
Fed Tips , Fediverse , ActivityPub
Initial Thoughts:
It seems unlikely that Meta will federate with Lemmy. When/if Meta adopts ActivityPub, it will likely affect Mastodon only rather than Lemmy, given Meta’s focus on being a Twitter alternative at the moment.
Please note that we have a few months before Threads will even federate with Mastodon, so we have some time to make the right decision.
Factors to Consider:
Factors to consider if Meta federates with Lemmy:
Privacy - While it’s true that Meta’s privacy settings for the app are excessive, it’s important to note that these settings only apply to users of the official Threads app and do not impact Lemmy users. It’s worth mentioning that Lemmy does not collect any personal data, and Meta has no means of accessing such data from this platform. In addition, when it comes to scraping data from your post/comments, Meta doesn’t need ActivityPub to do that. Anyone can read your profile and public posts as it is today.
Moderation - If a server hosts a substantial amount of harmful content without performing efficient and comprehensive moderation, it will create an excessive workload for our moderators. Currently, Meta is utilizing its existing Instagram moderation tools. Considering there were 95 million posts on the first day, this becomes worrisome, as it could potentially overwhelm us and serve as a sufficient reason for defederation.
Ads - It’s possible if Meta presents them as posts.
Promoting Posts - It’s possible with millions of users upvoting a post for it to trend.
Embrace, extend, and extinguish (EEE) - We don’t think they can. If anyone can explain how they technically would, please let us know. Even if Meta forks Lemmy and gets rid of the original software, Lemmy will survive.
Instance Blocking - Unlike Mastodon, Lemmy does not provide a feature for individual users to block an instance (yet). This creates a dilemma where we must either defederate, disappointing those who desire interaction with Threads, or choose not to defederate, which will let down those who prefer no interaction with Threads.
Blocking Outgoing Federation - There is currently no tool available to block outgoing federation from lemmy.world to other instances. We can only block incoming federation. This means that if we choose to defederate with our current capabilities, Threads will still receive copies of lemmy.world posts. However, only users on Threads will be able to interact with them, while we would not be able to see their interactions. This situation is similar to the one with Beehaw at the moment. Consequently, it leads to significant fragmentation of content, which has real and serious implications.
Conclusion:
From the points discussed above, the possible lack of moderation alone justifies considering defederation from Threads. However, it remains to be seen how Meta will handle moderation on such a large scale. Additionally, the inability of individuals to block an instance means we have to do what is best for the community.
If you have any added points or remarks on the above, please send them to @[email protected].
Setting aside the absolutely ridiculous logical fallacy of “if you disagree with me, you’re just naive”, you did land on the correct answer. Someone will spin up a Threads-free instance and people who care should certainly go to that instance instead. That is the correct answer; not insulting anyone who disagrees (before you even read their disagreement!)
Bullshit, this server could resist corporate influence and YOU could find another instance. You’re acting like the people that don’t like your point of view should leave. That’s not any worse whatsoever than “if you disagree with me, you’re just naive.” They are 100% both “My way or the highway” sentiments.
Personally, the burden is on you all to prove why you shouldn’t just go make a threads account if you care about threads?! Those of us that want nothing to do with Meta really shouldn’t have to opt out of a Lemmy instance to keep corporate influence away from us when so many of us are Reddit refugees who came here specifically to get away from corporate bs. Especially not when the fediverse is an answer to and result of big tech’s outsized social media influence in the first place.
It’s like you all joined the Rebels and want to invite the Empire over for tea…wtf?
Calm your pantaloons, buddy.
Nah hes got a point and you dont have a decent rebuttal lol
It is naive to not treat dangerous actions of your biggest competitor seriously. It’s in their best interest to either use us in a way that would make them the most money or to destroy us.
@joe What are you like 12 years old? maybe you should take a class in reading comprehension. You completely twisted what i said to make it seem offensive, like a teenager. There isnt any fallacies in my argument. Just issues with your understanding of my argument. I wasnt calling anyone naive simply because they disagree with me lol idk how you got that from my comment. I did not say, if you disagree with me youre just naive. i specifically said “Anyone wanting threads ro federate for the content is naive” and “naive to meta”, as in if youre willing to trust meta threads federation, then youre naive to big corporations. That’s just a fact plan and simple. My opinion on the subject is completely objective. If little red riding hood is trusting of the big bad wolf, then shes naive. I cant help you felt defensive, but that alone kinda infers there is truth in what i said.
Another thing you misunderstood from my original comment(which you incorrectly stated i got “correct” lol), I think threads sympathizers should just join threads. Ill self host if i have too just to get away from threads. But dont turn Lemmy into threads. Thats like turning lemmy into reddit. Go join threads and just let lemmy be lemmy. But honestly I’m at the point if this goes through and Lemmy doesn’t do anything to stop it ill just leave social bs altogether. go back to RSS and webscrapers. Its really sad but apparently people cant have a space without corp trying to shit on it and profit from it so im done.