In order for the open social web to happen at scale, lots of companies and apps, big and small, need to adopt #ActivityPub. Threads is the largest player so far to do this and the implications are huge.
Why is #Threads doing this? Is federation just another feature or is it foundational to their entire experience? How is the Threads team thinking about moderation, monetization and privacy in these early days and going forward?
I asked @rklambo and @pcottle, two thoughtful and genuine leaders on the Threads team who joined me on the latest episode of #DotSocial. Check it out on our #PeerTube instance or wherever you get your podcasts.
https://flipboard.video/w/2q29uCjnHjot1CHu1CZBim
Threads Has Entered the Fediverse, with Meta’s Rachel Lambert and Peter Cottle
On March 21, Meta’s Threads entered the fediverse. This means that people on other ActivityPub-powered platforms, like Mastodon, can follow federated Threads profiles and see, like, reply to, and repost posts from the fediverse. (Eventually, you’ll be able to follow other fediverse accounts from Threads, too.) It’s still early days, but Threads’ entry shows the ecosystem coming together at a larger scale, starting with the promise of interoperability.Threads’ presence in the fediverse has been the elephant in the room since it was announced in July 2023. Now that it’s actually happening, there is as much skepticism as excitement. Why is Meta doing this? How are they working with the community to get it right? And what do they have to say about concerns about their involvement?
In this episode of Dot Social, Flipboard CEO Mike McCue talks to two key leaders tasked with building the Threads experience: Rachel Lambert, Director of Product Management, and Peter Cottle, Software Engineer. Both are long-time Meta employees with a genuine care for open-source software and communities, as well as trust and safety. In fact, Rachel launched the Oversight Board, which helps Meta be accountable for trust and safety decisions across its social apps.
Highlights of this conversation include:
1:21 Reasons why is Meta entering the fediverse with Threads
3:30 How foundational is the fediverse for Threads (vs being more like a feature)?
5:25 Were AT protocol or other protocols ever in consideration, or was ActivityPub always the protocol you knew you’d use?
6:35 Benefits of larger companies adopting new technologies
8:07 More choice and voting with your feet, plus product development upside
9:06 Reactions from users, creators, the fediverse
12:15 Who’s federated that they’re excited about
13:27 The next steps in Threads’ federation
15:55 Addressing concerns about Meta in the fediverse
19:45 Could the concept of federation apply to other areas of Meta?
20:34 Privacy settings: Threads veers public
21:09 Addressing concerns around moderation and inviting in toxicity
25:57 Empowering instance admins; leveraging Meta toolkit for moderation?
27:49 Moderation at the protocol level, refined tools, expectation setting
30:00 Concerns over surveillance economy emerging in the fediverse; concerns over privacy and data
33:24 Evangelizing federation: Patreon, paid access models for creators?
35:55 Spirit of collaboration and community-building🔎 You can follow Rachel at @[url=https://threads.net/ap/users/17841400104589170/]Rachel Lambert[/url] and Peter at @pcottle@threads.net
✚ You can follow Mike on Mastodon at @[url=https://flipboard.social/users/mike]Mike McCue[/url] and @[url=https://flipboard.com/users/mike]Mike McCue[/url], and on Threads at @mmccue@threads.net
💡 To learn more about what Flipboard's doing in the Fediverse, sign up here: http://about.flipboard.com/a-new-wave
BeAware :veriweed:
in reply to Mike McCue • • •😬this PR will unfortunately overshadow the truth. They're engaging in dark pattern/planned obsolescence behavior and when confronted, doubled down on it. This integration is not in good faith...😔
I really hope you can show them how it's supposed to be done in a few weeks.
damon
in reply to BeAware :veriweed: • • •BeAware :veriweed:
in reply to damon • • •only talking about the bad sides of Fediverse like how some instances don't delete posts and not showing the vast amount of good things that Fediverse offers along with the new 30 day notification that says "are you SURE you want to keep Fediverse on?!?" Added on top of the fact that the threads team doubled down.😬🤦♂️
Here's a link along with my interaction with Threads engineers. https://social.beaware.live/@BeAware/112312313160804986
only talking about the bad sides of Fediverse like how some instances don't delete posts and not showing the vast amount of good things that Fediverse offers along with the new 30 day notification that says "are you SURE you want to keep Fediverse on?!?" Added on top of the fact that the threads team doubled down.😬🤦♂️
Here's a link along with my interaction with Threads engineers. https://social.beaware.live/@BeAware/112312313160804986
BeAware :veriweed:
2024-04-22 01:38:15
Ryan Baumann
in reply to Mike McCue • • •william.maggos
in reply to Mike McCue • • •skua
in reply to Mike McCue • • •A #GenocideEnabling company has thoughtful and genuine leaders?
[#WhatsThatSmell?]