this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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[–] [email protected] 100 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

This is why I'm in favor of not having await and see policy toward Threads. The safest thing to do is assume they're lying.

Threads users aren't Fediverse users. Meta isn't another instance. Even former Meta employees should be treated with extreme suspicion for years if they try to defect.

Nobody who's ever worked for "Big Social" should be allowed to touch the ActivityPub standard. It should be obvious that their livelihood goes against what it stands for.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Exactly, Facebook doesn't do anything unless they see money in it or they're trying to protect their bottom line.

It's all about the shareholders, nothing else matters to the corporate world, no matter how nice of a bow they try to wrap it in.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Cool, so pick an instance that plans to defederate with them and you're golden.

Personally, I think all the anti-Threads stuff is paranoid rhetoric and I'd rather see how it pans out. My instance admin agrees so we'll see how it goes.

Point is you can choose because that's the entire point of the fediverse. And it's why I don't understand why folks are expending so much energy writing paranoid pieces on this topic when they could just defederate and move on.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

pick an instance that plans to defederate with them and you're golden.

That's not how this works. This is a threat to the concept of the fediverse. It doesn't matter what instance any of us picks.

Threads already has hundreds of millions of users. Once they activate ActivityPub, they will be hundreds of times larger than the rest of the Fediverse combined. Instantly we will be a tiny minority of the users of this platform. That will give Meta unimaginable influence over this platform and technology.

I'm not sure I can spell it out more clearly.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

No, that's literally how this works.

If you don't like an ActivityPub participant you block it. It's in the architecture.

And given the current fediverse is already a tiny fraction of total social media activity, if a bunch of anti-Threads instances hive off to form their own fediverse subgroup, it'll basically be a no-op from their perspective. They'll just keep talking to each other off in a little corner by themselves just like they're doing today. That's kinda the whole damn point of a federated architecture.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

Personally, I think all the anti-Threads stuff is paranoid rhetoric

From Wikipedia:

Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear.

You might be correct. People don't trust in Meta and have concerns about potential consequences. According to this definition, paranoia isn't necessarily negative. Meta has made several questionable decisions in the past, such as its involvement in the genocide in Myanmar.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

I think it's a form of clout seeking behavior. When a community is against something, extreme stands against that thing garner approval from within the community. This creates a reinforcement cycle so people keep doing it, doubling down in the sentiment. Simply defederating doesn't elicit approval the same way talking about it does.