Dylan

So Instagram is coming out with a Twitter competitor* that runs on ActivityPub and will be interoperable with Mastodon. Seems awesome to me at first glance, though I have some reservations about how IG’s instance may be run.

There’s talk that some Masto instances will immediately block IG’s instance when it comes online. How do y’all feel about that?

I don’t see the benefit in immediately blocking IG’s instance. At least give federation a fair shot, IMO.

* https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/19/23730070/instagram-twitter-app-competitor-leak

This is Instagram’s new Twitter competitor

A leaked marketing slide from Lia Haberman gives us our first look at Instagram’s upcoming “text-based” app that’s supposed to take on Twitter.

The Verge
Jun 21, 2023 at 5:31pmWeb
Show threadBasmithartsJun 21, 2023
@Dylan This is my thinking as well.
Show threadMake Subaru Gay AgainJun 21, 2023
@Dylan I will be leaving any instances that don't block it, and then blocking those instances on my other accounts.
Show threadDylanJun 21, 2023
@makesubarugayagain
May I ask why?
Show threadMake Subaru Gay AgainJun 21, 2023
@Dylan why wouldnt you? I literally deleted my facebook account nearly a decade ago and block their tracker domains. For all the supposed anticapitalists here there sure is a lot of capital bootlicking going on. Also I honestly couldn't give a shit what people that hold anti worker opinions have say and instead of having to read their shit, they go where they belong, with the racists, sexist, homophobes, etc.
Show threadDexterJun 21, 2023

@Dylan I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, saying that this is being done by "Instagram" is a way of avoiding saying it's Meta which is a way of avoiding saying it's Facebook. And we all know the numerous shady things that FB has done and continues to do. "Embrace, extend, extinguish" continues to be the tactic to kill F/OSS and keep people on proprietary systems.

On the other, if it's a free platform that anyone can develop applications for, that includes big corporate entities.

Show threadDylanJun 21, 2023

@wheeljack
I’m no fan of Meta, but I don’t really see much harm in federating (though I wouldn’t want that firehose of content in my fed feed).

I like the possibility of having many more accounts to follow and interact with. Plus, because of how much I can curate my Mastodon experience, I’m not worried about being fed algorithmic spam.

If they get some data from me, so be it. This is a public-facing account on an open-protocol platform.

Show threadDexterJun 23, 2023

@Dylan More fuel for the fire....

https://ploum.net/2023-06-23-how-to-kill-decentralised-networks.html

How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse)

How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse) par Ploum - Lionel Dricot.

Show threadDylanJun 23, 2023

@wheeljack
Definitely worth considering. It’s similar to Gmail having proprietary features that aren’t compatible with standard email protocol.

I’d be worried that Instagram could want to build modified versions of ActivityPub that would have interoperability issues, essentially walling off their service.

Show threadMurphestophelese MurphMeisterJun 21, 2023
@Dylan Big players are always something of a risk. Meta in particular has shown so much bad behavior in the past, I completely understand them getting blocked right away. There is no real reason to give them the benefit of the doubt, they already have a track record to look at.
Show threadDylanJun 21, 2023
@murph
I’m not a supporter of Meta — and I wouldn’t say I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt. I guess my main question is: What would be the potential harms in federating with their instance? Honest question.
Show threadMurphestophelese MurphMeisterJun 24, 2023
@Dylan Really just using the Fediverse to scrape even more information from people that don't want it, and eventually, once the value is extracted, pulling out, and devaluing what they leave in their wake, similar to what Google and Facebook did with XMPP.
Show threadNicholasJun 21, 2023
@Dylan I am not federating with bad actors.