Copy, Acquire, Kill— How Meta could pull off the most extraordinary pivot in tech history
What if Meta’s hidden objective behind the Threads-to-Mastodon initiative is a play on app.net [http://app.net]? And, what if threads.net [http://threads.net] is a measured step towards what could be the greatest pivot in all of tech?
The (annotated) case for a "big fedi"
Untangling Threads | Erin Kissane
Embrace, Extend, and Exploit: Meta's plan for ActivityPub, Mastodon and the fediverse
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9799372 [https://lemmy.world/post/9799372] What’s Meta up to? 1. Embrace ActivityPub, , Mastodon, and the fediverse 2. Extend ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the fediverse with a very-usable app that provides additional functionality (initially the ability to follow everybody you’re following on Instagram, and to communicate with all Threads users) that isn’t available to the rest of the fediverse – as well over time providing additional services and introducing incompatibilities and non-standard improvements to the protocol 3. Exploit ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the fediverse by utilizing them for profit – and also using them selfishly for Meta’s own ends Since the fediverse is so much smaller than Threads, the most obvious ways of exploiting it – such as stealing market share by getting people currently in the fediverse to move to Threads – aren’t going to work. But exploitation is one of Meta’s core competences, and once you start to look at it with that lens, it’s easy to see some of the ways even their initial announcement and tiny first steps are exploiting the fediverse: making Threads feel like a more compelling platform, and reshaping regulation. Longer term, it’s a great opportunity for Meta to explore – and maybe invest in – shifting their business model to decentralized surveillance capitalism.
Embrace, Extend, and Exploit: Meta's plan for ActivityPub, Mastodon and the fediverse
What’s Meta up to? 1. Embrace ActivityPub, , Mastodon, and the fediverse 2. Extend ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the fediverse with a very-usable app that provides additional functionality (initially the ability to follow everybody you’re following on Instagram, and to communicate with all Threads users) that isn’t available to the rest of the fediverse – as well over time providing additional services and introducing incompatibilities and non-standard improvements to the protocol 3. Exploit ActivityPub, Mastodon, and the fediverse by utilizing them for profit – and also using them selfishly for Meta’s own ends Since the fediverse is so much smaller than Threads, the most obvious ways of exploiting it – such as stealing market share by getting people currently in the fediverse to move to Threads – aren’t going to work. But exploitation is one of Meta’s core competences, and once you start to look at it with that lens, it’s easy to see some of the ways even their initial announcement and tiny first steps are exploiting the fediverse: making Threads feel like a more compelling platform, and reshaping regulation. Longer term, it’s a great opportunity for Meta to explore – and maybe invest in – shifting their business model to decentralized surveillance capitalism.
Polls on reactions to Threads
As you’ve probably heard, Threads (a fairly new social network from Facebook’s parent company Meta) is testing integration with the fediverse [https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/111576825980285552]. Depending on how you look at it, it’s a great opportunity, a huge threat, or both! Back in May and June, when Threads’ first announced their plans, there were quite a few polls on Mastodon about people’s reactions [https://privacy.thenexus.today/should-the-fediverse-welcome-surveillance-capitalism/#polls], most showing opinions split roughly equally. How do people feel today?
