Darnell Clayton Jul 3, 2023
Threads by Instagram will launch on July 6th (thanks for the heads up @dansup!) & I noticed Meta collects a lot of data. So much data!

Threads is rumored to adopt ActivityPub later on (in October maybe‽ We will see), but when it joins the Fediverse (if not on launch day), it’s data collection policies will make it easier to convince some (but not all) to migrate over to Misskey, Pixelfed, Mastodon & Pleroma.

Note: Uploading on Misskey as my Mastodon account @darnell is being fixed server side right now.

#Threads #Instagram #Meta #Facebook #Misskey #Pixelfed #Mastodon #Pleroma
Show threadjoe•iuculano Jul 4, 2023

@darnell @darnell @dansup

Look at all that personal info they will be collecting. #Threads is owned by #Instagram, which is in turn owned by #Facebook's parent company, #Meta. See where this is going?

Show threadJohn M FloresJul 4, 2023

@iuculano @darnell @darnell @dansup I don't think that's #Meta 's motivation, actually; the #Fediverse universe is just a drop in their giant data bucket.

Not defending them. They have other objectives

Show threadDarnell Clayton Jul 4, 2023

@JohnMFlores @iuculano @darnell @dansup #Meta is an advertising company. My take is they view the #Fediverse the same way #Google viewed blogs back in the day: a great place to put ads upon.

I know some instances are already setup to “host” ads on the browser side (#Mastodon & #Misskey) but most people do not activate that. I believe that is #Facebook’s end goal here, which is to use #Threads by #Instagram to sell more ads.

Show threadJohn M FloresJul 4, 2023
@darnell @iuculano @darnell @dansup I use the #Meta Ads Manager daily. 12 Mil Mastodon users is a drop in the bucket for them. #Threads won't be successful unless it has ten times that.
Show threadDarnell Clayton Jul 4, 2023
@JohnMFlores @iuculano @darnell @dansup It’s not the #Fediverse as it currently is that #Meta is after. It’s the future Fediverse that will appear after #Threads launches. We might see hundreds of millions (if not billions) of sites embrace #ActivityPub by the end of 2025. Meta wants to be the dominant power of that future, or at least be ahead of #Google.
Show threadJohn M FloresJul 4, 2023
@darnell @iuculano @darnell @dansup the risk is that a #Fediverse that #meta controls will be a consumer data and ad platform. In other words, not the Fediverse that we currently have.
Show threadmaegulJul 4, 2023

@JohnMFlores @darnell @iuculano @darnell @dansup

"The Fediverse that we currently have" isn't one thing though ... meta can just make their own meta-fediverse.

IE all of the "current fediverse" could stay exactly as it is while meta establishes a big-corp ad-friendly beachhead on the AP protocol that eclipses the "current fediverse" in size.

It's in the nature of it being based on a protocol, and diversity and choice and sub-networks are kinda the point ... right?

Show threadJohn M Flores
@maegul @darnell @iuculano @darnell @dansup true but the current #Fediverse has not reached critical mass to sustain interesting discussions in smaller, niche topics. #Threads will hijack the Fediverse growth trajectory, potentially thwarting its path towards critical mass.
Jul 4, 2023 at 4:43amWeb