The highlights:
The Dutch government officially launches their #Mastodon server
Mastodon hits 2m active users, but a dev also reports that there is currently no work being done on big features
A meta engineer joins the #activitypub working group in the W3C
New blog post: Understanding ActivityPub - Part 2: Lemmy
This time, I'm taking a look at Lemmy, the Reddit alternative for the Fediverse. Follow along to explore how Lemmy uses the ActivityPub protocol to sync data between different instances. See how Mastdon and Lemmy can talk to each other, and where the communication falls short. And try it out yourself on ActivityPub.Academy.
An #ActivityPub protocol extension where you can host your own identity server or use a public one and login to any ActivityPub service through that (thereby using any interface with the same Fedi account) would be kinda nice I guess.
Being thrown back onto a different platform (and the corresponding interface) just to comment is really bad in terms of UX. 😕 It kinda works for (Micro)blogs, Image Blogs and Video platforms. Forums probably too... but Link Aggregators like Kbin or Lemmy? Meh.
@daniel i have searched for something like this nearly forever. I use Strava and Komoot only for tracking the social component is only a nice side effect.
This may be a very unpopular take on here, but I feel that some people on #ActivityPub / #Fediverse are showing some elitism.
While I do understand the very real threat that #Meta poses to communities and understand the want...I'm sorry...NEED to protect them, a lot more people are out here trying to take some moral high ground.
It just seems really weird to me outside of the desire to be trendy by hating on the next big thing, but also being very assholey to those who choose to or have to use it in order to communicate.
Understand, for most people, the Fediverse is complicated and they want something simple.
Others have businesses where their clientele are on other platforms.
@majorlinux I'm here because I wanted something far from Meta given their track record over the decades of being a privacy nightmare with their data collection and their apps and influence of the population their algorithms have had.
To me whatever tech it is doesn't really matter. It could an old school message board. If Facebook isn't there I'd choose it over Facebook, since the tech itself isn't what makes something good. It's the organization behind it, and their long term plans for it and what they plan to do with the extra data collected from users beyond just public comments.
So it's personally why I have red flags for instances that plan to join with Meta, since I don't view something being fediverse to mean automatically safe and uncorruptable. These instances aren't even built with privacy in mind with ip logs available to admins. So that's even more of a reason why I don't want to associate with Meta instances.
I don't view fediverse as this magic armor that would protect users in instances that choose to federate with meta. It's something I see people have to be just as deliberate in when it comes to making a meta account or not.
#Meta objective with #Threads is to attract the VIP accounts on #Twitter. Nothing else.
These accounts are 'broadcasters' in nature, they have many times more followers than people they follow, and they generate a lot of traffic.
These accounts and their traffic are 'low hanging fruit' since #Musk decided to make Twitter unbearable for its users and even risky for its own sponsors to continue paying for adds.
But Meta, with all its shortcomings, is the best positioned to grab those accounts. They have solid infrastructure, good developers, decent discrimination of bots vs humans... and even an acceptable moderation (despite the terrible mental health toll on their overseas moderators).
Now, there are basically 4 types of these VIP accounts:
1.- VIPs who are already in #Instagram - no major action needed, just the ability to post text-only instead of pictures and video. Many people already do that my posting text-made-pictures or neutral pictures with interesting captions.
2.- VIPs who are already discontented with all commercial social media platforms abusing and polluting their content with adds and other algorithm-driven content before it reaches to their audiences - these are potential candidates to once and for all decide to run their own websites or #Fediverse sites and connect directly to their audiences. They need a quick connection to their followers though, so the action here is to provide them with a quick access to the massive crowd of Instagram and they will be very happy.
3.- VIPs (high traffic generators) who are controversial standers, whose posts are sometimes even illegal... but juicy because they attract a lot of clicks. To grab these Meta needed a way to not be seen as the host, curator or publisher, but still being able to 'pipe' their traffic. Any ideas? - Yes, tell them to run their own instance and apply 2.-
4.- VIPs who are already VERY pissed with all commercial social media and have chosen to make the Fediverse their new home by joining some instance, and they are very happy with smaller audiences, our blocking and defederating patterns and our conversational way of socialising - These are very few and they will never join nothing that smells like Meta, so no action is possible.
We must note that none of these people with millions of followers can ever join any of our instances or they will immediately make them crash, so they need something rock solid and scalable.
So now I understand what all the Meta joining the Fediverse is all about... just using it temporary for grabbing those accounts.
Of course, the next action will be to tinker with their implementation of #ActivityPub a little bit, just enough to making it incompatible with the rest of the Fediverse... we've been there before.
And after all that, we will continue happily ever after as two different universes as we have always been. 😎
I just had a look at #Meta's recent press release about #Threads, and something caught my attention right away.
For the very first time, they're acknowledging another #Fediverse platform alongside #Mastodon. Specifically, they're highlighting that #WordPress can now connect through #ActivityPub.
Now, you know Meta's PR department doesn't say things by accident. So here's why this is a big deal. Last time I checked, WordPress powers a whopping 43% of the Internet. Yeah, you heard that right! If you visit a website, there's a good chance it's using WordPress as its CMS.
Now, if even a fraction of those WordPress sites start federating, it could have a huge impact on the network effect of the Fediverse. Of course, Meta isn't oblivious to this. I've been talking about the potential of WordPress and ActivityPub for quite some time now.
But if you're particularly observant, you might also notice that they mention #Tumblr. We've known for a while that Tumblr is likely to integrate ActivityPub into their platform.
But here's an interesting tidbit: Did you know that one company, Automattic, not only owns Tumblr but is also the driving force behind WordPress?
I don't want to jump to conclusions, but once again, PR departments don't just drop hints randomly. I have a strong feeling that Meta has been having some high-level discussions with Automattic about the future of ActivityPub. It wouldn't surprise me if Meta has some insights into Automattic's upcoming plans for the Fediverse.
@randulo@rlx@atomicpoet@fediversenews My best guess is that what they're trying to say in their privacy policy is that if there is a way to grab an IP address they will. Their privacy policy is probably purposely overbroad. It could also be that they're covering the case that someone clicks on a link in Mastodon that leads to Threads, which is very easy to do. I often click links in folks posts that lead me to other servers (e.g. clicking open original page).
Have you seen the latest update from the #Instagram Help Center? It offers insight into how #Meta views the #Fediverse. Let's take a closer look at the highlighted text together:
"#Threads is planning to use a protocol called #ActivityPub to connect with other servers that support this protocol. Our aim is to enable communication between Threads and users on different fediverse platforms that we don't own or control."
Now, considering everything we know about Meta and their business practices, you might wonder why they're doing this. Well, here are a few reasons that could shed some light:
Regulatory pressure: While Meta is doing its best to compete with #Twitter, they also want to avoid appearing like a monopolistic force. By joining the Fediverse, they can show regulators that they are simply becoming part of an existing social network.
Zuckerberg's strategy: Mark Zuckerberg has been observing what's been happening with Twitter ever since Elon Musk acquired it, and he's learned some lessons. Twitter has faced criticism for various missteps like alienating journalists, restricting API access, and even requiring logins to view tweets. Zuckerberg wants to assure people that Threads is different from Twitter and avoid those same pitfalls.
Embracing social media decentralization: It's widely acknowledged in the social media industry that the future lies in decentralization. The era of closed-off platforms is gradually coming to an end. Just as Compuserve couldn't survive the open Internet, walled garden social media platforms won't be able to thrive in the open Fediverse. Meta doesn't want to become the next Compuserve.
Early entry into an emerging ecosystem: Meta is eager to establish itself in the emerging Fediverse ecosystem, much like they tried to do with the Metaverse. Being an early player allows them to take a leadership position before other major players like #Google, #Apple, and #Automattic jump on board.
However, it's worth noting that there might be a personal rivalry at play here. There have been rumors of a rivalry between Zuckerberg and Musk, and it seems they don't particularly like each other. So, one could speculate that Zuckerberg might want to undermine Musk by taking down Twitter, the platform Musk acquired for a hefty sum of $44 billion.
Hope that provides some context and clarity on why Meta is making these moves.
What do you think about Meta’s Fediverse explainer?
Does Mastodon download and transcode videos? So Meta can just pull a YouTube or CNN. Done. Like I said, there are hundreds of ways to get an ad in your face and Meta has some bright people. I expect they'll eventually find a large number of them.
@atomicpoet@fediversenews bluesky doesn’t care about which protocol wins, and also Facebook using activity pub isn’t widely seen as a win for our community here or our protocol. I’d like to see less superiority posting and more curiousity about what other platforms are getting right.like @ekana said, bluesky has quickly created feed features we really could use over here on mastodon.
I just want to say sorry to @gruber for comparing him to a child who had his toy taken away. My bad!
Now, I personally found @gruber's complaint a bit short-sighted. On one hand, he claims not to like Meta, even comparing them to a criminal organization. But as soon as there's some regulatory resistance against Meta, he starts complaining.
Here's the thing: do we really want Meta to continue behaving like a criminal organization? Or should we have laws in place to keep them in check?
I can't help but wonder if Meta would even consider integrating with #ActivityPub if it weren't for the EU's regulatory pressure. Honestly, I highly doubt it.
As someone who is greatly respected in the tech community, I truly hope that @gruber would stand on the side of privacy rather than monopolies. After all, it's an important issue, right?
@atomicpoet@gruber Privacy isn’t even the primary reason to defederate. It’s the unmoderated content which will come from #threads servers. This continues to be ignored in the broader discussions.
Sure, we have moderation tools. But am I to ask my users to individually block every “lib of TikTok” poster, which requires seeing all their content? That would make me a poor operator.
I really hope the #fediverse doesn't pre-emptively defederate and/or block #Threads from joining the fun when it finally enables #ActivityPub features.
Getting a mainstream audience onboarded will surely stress systems, but it will also spur growth and innovation to deal with the new scale.
@AndyGER I maintain a curated list of words and phrases that keeps my timelines/contexts quite tidy.
I think the answer is for the ecosystem to evolve ... we're never going to be able to control others, but a server should be able to filter the fediverse on their user's behalf. Or perhaps users can opt-in to shared filter and block lists. All of those options are better than just wholesale blocking what might become a massive community that will probably include our friends and family.
@joelmartinez@AndyGER Maybe our friends and family are better off not sharing their data with an intentionally addictive platform that will use it to manipulate what they see, or even fuel violence if it suits them. It's looking more like it's going to remain a walled garden anyway, and I'm skeptical that they'll ever get around to federating with #activitypub.