What’s Meta up to?

  1. Embrace ActivityPub, , Mastodon, and the fediverse

  2. Extend ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the fediverse with a very-usable app that provides additional functionality (initially the ability to follow everybody you’re following on Instagram, and to communicate with all Threads users) that isn’t available to the rest of the fediverse – as well over time providing additional services and introducing incompatibilities and non-standard improvements to the protocol

  3. Exploit ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the fediverse by utilizing them for profit – and also using them selfishly for Meta’s own ends

Since the fediverse is so much smaller than Threads, the most obvious ways of exploiting it – such as stealing market share by getting people currently in the fediverse to move to Threads – aren’t going to work. But exploitation is one of Meta’s core competences, and once you start to look at it with that lens, it’s easy to see some of the ways even their initial announcement and tiny first steps are exploiting the fediverse: making Threads feel like a more compelling platform, and reshaping regulation. Longer term, it’s a great opportunity for Meta to explore – and maybe invest in – shifting their business model to decentralized surveillance capitalism.

  • @pastaPersonaEnglish
    2•5 months ago

    Idk as long as Meta services keep forcing you to sign up for an account to view anything of value I’d imagine a lot of people will look for alternatives elsewhere.

    Nothing more annoying than trying to look at the menu for a local restaurant/business page for a local business and seeing “sign up for Facebook to view this page.” Much of the utility for any kind of discussion or shared info online (imo) lies in the ability to access it quickly via search and without being forced to login.

    • @ZakEnglish
      4•5 months ago

      as long as Meta services keep forcing you to sign up for an account to view anything of value

      Threads doesn’t do that, and won’t be able to if it wants to support ActivityPub federation.

      • 0x1C3B00DA
        1•5 months ago

        Don’t you have to have an Instagram account to use Threads? Every service on the fediverse makes you create an account. And all of them can put all its content behind that account; nothing in ActivityPub prevents that

        • @ZakEnglish
          2•5 months ago

          An account is required to post on Threads. It is not required to view content posted on Threads, which is different from Facebook and Instagram.

          ActivityPub means that servers other than Threads will receive content from Threads which they can serve to visitors.

          • 0x1C3B00DA
            2•5 months ago

            Ok. Your point was that you can view Threads content without a Threads account and even if they required an account to view Threads content, users with other fediverse accounts could still see the content because that’s how federation works.

            Sorry, i misunderstood your point .