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Threads deepens its ties to the open social web, aka the ‘fediverse’

“Threads is deepening its ties to the fediverse, also known as the open social web, which powers services like X alternative Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, Flipboard and other apps. On Wednesday, Meta announced that users on Threads will be able to see fediverse replies on other posts besides their own. In addition, posts that originated through the Threads API, like those created via third-party apps and scheduling services, will now be syndicated to the fediverse. The latter had previously been announced via an in-app message informing users that API posts would be shared to the fediverse starting on August 28.”

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

Daily reminder to defederate from and block threads.net (and optionally all instances that do not do the same).

flancian ,
@flancian@social.coop avatar

@Dirk @xelar thanks for your view, question: defederating with threads seems reasonable, but why would you defederate "second level" like this? I ask as the instance I'm in decided not to defederate with threads for now and I'm personally OK with that.

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

A is defederated from Threads, but federates with B. And B federates with Threads. Now Meta can cash out on your data via B.

copygirl ,
@copygirl@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I don’t think that’s how it works and it would likely not be legal. By explicitly blocking Threads, you make a big statement about not wanting your instance’s posts to show up there. Also from a technical standpoint, I don’t think a “middle-man” instance will push posts from another instance to a third one. You’d have to explicitly scrape data that’s not available via the API. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

flancian ,
@flancian@social.coop avatar

@copygirl @Dirk yes, I also get the feeling this would not work in a compliant setup but it seems like a good idea to test this in e.g. a federation test suite.

Maybe @evanprodromou would know how this should work, or would know of someone who might be testing this kind of scenario.

Kraiden ,
@Kraiden@kbin.earth avatar

The fediverse is too new and niche to say that with certainty.

The legality is likely untested and certainly not enforced by pubspec yet.

I don't know enough to speak to the technicalities with certainty, but my surface level understanding is that that is exactly how it works, and it is one of the known flaws of the fediverse as it currently exists.

You might be making a statement, but server B is just a node and, frankly, doesn't care. If you federate with them, you federate with everyone they federate with as well.

It's uncomfortably like an STD in that regard.

smeg ,

Now Meta can cash out on your data via B.

Everything we’re posting is public, anyone can cash in on it regardless of who you defederate.

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

Everyone can break into my house regardless of having a key or not. I still don’t have my key delivered to them.

DarkDarkHouse ,
@DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Everyone can break into the park you visit and talk to people at

heluecht ,

@flancian @Dirk Threads has about 200 million monthly users, 33 million daily users. The fediverse has just under 1 million monthly users. Do you really think that 0.5% has any relevance to Meta?

Also: What data do you think Meta will be able to use - and for what? They can't use this data to serve you ads, simply because they don't know you. They can't track you around the web because you don't have a Meta account.

Dirk ,
@Dirk@lemmy.ml avatar

Threads has about 200 million monthly users, 33 million daily users. The fediverse has just under 1 million monthly users. Do you really think that 0.5% has any relevance to Meta?

Do you really think they would care about those users when they extend and extinguish the Fediverse?

heluecht ,

@Dirk How should they achieve it? The Fediverse contains of a lot of different systems that offer so much more than Threads could ever do.

haui_lemmy ,

Exactly. Proudly presented by fedipact.veganism.social and fedipact.online/why among others.

You can read the human rights abuses that meta is facilitating above.

admin ,
@admin@lemmy.my-box.dev avatar

So… Instances like lemmy.world, that this is posted to?

yes, I’m federated with them as well, but shit like this is why I dislike them being so big. In the end all the smaller instances can either have strong morals and integrity, or have access to the largest amount of content in the fediverse, but not both.

magiccupcake ,

Ehh mastodon and lemmy don’t see a ton of cross talk. Threads is mainly going to affect mastodon instances.

MrScottyTay , (edited )

Defedding from threads always seems strange to me. Everyone says it’s to protect your data from meta. But they can already get your data. Everything on the fediverse is public. They already have your data.

heluecht ,

@Dirk @MrScottyTay Also I think that one should ask the question, what Meta could do with the data and what it is doing with the data of their users. For their users they use the usage data to present them a feed that the users appreciate. Also they use it to place ads inside of their apps. Also they use the data to serve you ads outside of their system on ad networks that use data from Meta.

All of this is technically not possible for Fediverse users.

MrScottyTay ,

Defedding doesn’t stop any of that though

fin ,

It’s not about the data, but the community. Just like Google killed IRC, big techs are always trying to embrace, extend and extinguish the services.

admin ,
@admin@lemmy.my-box.dev avatar

Public is not the same as public domain.

I’m not a lawyer, but Federation would probably imply consent to sharing the data. Whereas defederation would strongly imply you’re not okay with sharing the data with that entity.

MrScottyTay ,

You think they don’t collect data illegally and anonymise it (but keep cohorts) for market research already? You sweet summer child

kerthale ,

Maybe we should do a reverse embrace-extend-extinguish where we open everything up until the point that they start introducing ads to enshittify the platform. Then after that great migration say goodbye to them

troed ,
@troed@fedia.io avatar

They can't place ads in your feeds.

baronvonj ,
@baronvonj@lemmy.world avatar

They meant after Threads enshitifies itself and the users migrate to a proper Fedi platform then we block out Threads.

kerthale ,

That’s exactly the point. There are a lot of users on Threads who might be happy with the Fediverse. Threads will undoubtedly need a put in ads in their app/instance, their enshittification is inevitable. If it becomes easy for users to move over to more friendly Fediverse instances, that is a win.

niartenyaw ,
@niartenyaw@midwest.social avatar

they technically could do this by representing ads with posts.

troed ,
@troed@fedia.io avatar

It's awesome that Threads federate with Mastodon. I follow several accounts on Threads I otherwise wouldn't be able to, just as I bridge with Bluesky.

Me federating with Threads makes absolutely no difference whatsoever to what they could or could not do with my data.

Kraiden ,
@Kraiden@kbin.earth avatar

No. Threads federation should be treated the same way as a wolf joining a "sheep's right to not be eaten" meeting. Deeply unsettling, highly suspicious, and troubling. Facebook does NOT want the fediverse to succeed, and any claim to the contrary is fucking sus.

troed ,
@troed@fedia.io avatar

That's your opinion. It's problematic when people conflate their gut feelings for facts.

Hadriscus ,

There’s quite a bit more than a gut feeling here. Meta is a malignant cancer and having nothing to do with it while promoting the fediverse is the wisest course of action.

oxjox ,
@oxjox@lemmy.ml avatar

Other than general assumptions and track-record and being a business that sells user data, is there any actual evidence or clear and present ways that Meta could do harm to the Fediverse / its users?

All I’ve read is that it seems suspicious and we shouldn’t trust them. I totally agree with that but I’d like someone to give some examples of what they could do as a member of the network. I’ve read how they could post advertising – how would that work?

I ask because, like the previous comment, the idea of following people from other, more popular, federated platforms from the comfort and security of “open source” (?) platforms is appealing. At the same time, if this is leaving me and my platform vulnerable to something specific, I’d like to either proceed with caution or not proceed at all.

The biggest loss for me when leaving Twitter was losing access to so much happening in my community and local news and government organizations. They’re all still posting on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and not moving to the open social web. More and more are moving to Threads though so it would be nice to maintain / regain exposure.

xelar OP ,

Theres no balance when one instance floods the whole network with millions of users. Soon people will mean that “threads” is whole “fediverse” .

troed ,
@troed@fedia.io avatar

ActivityPub is pull, not push. Threads isn't pushing anything into my feeds.

admin ,
@admin@lemmy.my-box.dev avatar

I thought it was push after subscription.

troed ,
@troed@fedia.io avatar

Well sure - but you need to actively subscribe (e.g. pull).

Rubisco ,

https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/7cbe7bf8-52b0-4194-8d59-8c3eaf682c01.jpeg

https://slrpnk.net/pictrs/image/ee2f1815-e206-4cc3-87a7-58c5999d5562.gif

JetpackJackson ,

Who’s the artist of the image? I like the art style

khaleer ,

David Revoy.

VolumetricShitCompressor ,

Fuck the Zucc

This won’t affect the Fedipact instances like dbzer0, right?

lemmyseizethemeans ,

THE ENSHITIFICATION OF EVERYTHING MUST NOT INCLUDE THE FEDIVERSE PLEASE

thank you for coming to my Ted talk

brown567 ,

That same Meta that performs emotional manipulation experiments on its users without informing them or receiving their consent? No, thank you!

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