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.

  • originalucifer
    1•5 months ago

    if users on my system want some bell or whistle somewhere else, groovy, dont let the door hit ya on the way out.

    threads is not going to magically, silently create a dependency in my system. its exactly like SMTP. no one is attempting to EEE email.

    i am not/will not receive anything from threads not in the protocol spec, and if my users dont like that they can go somewhere else. this is not a problem for me.

    i dont care what the threads instance has to offer with regards to bells and whistles, it affects me not.

    • @[email protected]English
      1•5 months ago

      no one is attempting to EEE email.

      Yes… they are?

      Have you noticed how Gmail labels don’t work with other email providers? Folders and categories? Stars and Important? Many people have come to rely on these features and moving to other providers becomes a bit of a hassle. This is the naughty extension of e-mail.

      Another great example is github. Git is open and interoperable, but most companies using github are stuck to it because they use Github also for issues, pull requests, and many other things.

      • originalucifer
        1•5 months ago

        no i have not, i do not use google products.

        i have never, ever had a person mention my inability to use a gmail specific feature. my communication through gmail works as expected.