How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse)
How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse)
How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse) écrit par Ploum, Lionel Dricot, ingénieur, écrivain de science-fiction, développeur de logiciels libres.
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This is why I'm in favor of not having await and see policy toward Threads. The safest thing to do is assume they're lying.
Threads users aren't Fediverse users. Meta isn't another instance. Even former Meta employees should be treated with extreme suspicion for years if they try to defect.
Nobody who's ever worked for "Big Social" should be allowed to touch the ActivityPub standard. It should be obvious that their livelihood goes against what it stands for.
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Exactly, Facebook doesn't do anything unless they see money in it or they're trying to protect their bottom line.
It's all about the shareholders, nothing else matters to the corporate world, no matter how nice of a bow they try to wrap it in.
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Cool, so pick an instance that plans to defederate with them and you're golden.
Personally, I think all the anti-Threads stuff is paranoid rhetoric and I'd rather see how it pans out. My instance admin agrees so we'll see how it goes.
Point is you can choose because that's the entire point of the fediverse. And it's why I don't understand why folks are expending so much energy writing paranoid pieces on this topic when they could just defederate and move on.
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pick an instance that plans to defederate with them and you're golden.
That's not how this works. This is a threat to the concept of the fediverse. It doesn't matter what instance any of us picks.
Threads already has hundreds of millions of users. Once they activate ActivityPub, they will be hundreds of times larger than the rest of the Fediverse combined. Instantly we will be a tiny minority of the users of this platform. That will give Meta unimaginable influence over this platform and technology.
I'm not sure I can spell it out more clearly.
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Personally, I think all the anti-Threads stuff is paranoid rhetoric
From Wikipedia:
Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear.
You might be correct. People don't trust in Meta and have concerns about potential consequences. According to this definition, paranoia isn't necessarily negative. Meta has made several questionable decisions in the past, such as its involvement in the genocide in Myanmar.
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I think it's a form of clout seeking behavior. When a community is against something, extreme stands against that thing garner approval from within the community. This creates a reinforcement cycle so people keep doing it, doubling down in the sentiment. Simply defederating doesn't elicit approval the same way talking about it does.
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I don't have sympathy to GAFA, but the article oversimplifies the reality and jumps to the conclusion here and there. Broken logic is dangerous...
Edit:
For example,
Since its inception, Facebook have been very careful to kill every competition. The easiest way of doing it being by buying companies that could, one day, become competitors. Instagram, WhatsApp to name a few, were bought only because their product attracted users and could cast a shadow on Facebook.
This is oversimplification. Facebook not only acquired WhatsApp, but wanted access to its user data. So, it's not "only because" they wanted to control WhatsApp before they become a rival.
The article's logic becomes sloppy like this every few sentences if not words.
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I don't see any large leaps.
If threads uses activity pub, most activity pub users will be meta users using the meta client. Meta will not feel the pressure to conform to the activity pub implementation. They could add features as they want since all their users will use their client. This will cause a sudden incompatibility and the fediverse will have to be the one to fix the problem.
If the fediverse wants to update the protocol to add a feature, we'd have to run it by meta first since they would have to update their client. If they drag their feet it would be hard to force the update knowing it will disconnect the majority of users from the fediverse.
It's the same situation described in the article with Google and XMPP.
I don't see any leaps or jumps. This could be how meta kills the fediverse and we'd be walking into it eyes wide open.
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Explain yourself.
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See my edit.
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Very interesting read, it showcases how big tech can grow more aware of the "threat" of the Fediverse and how they might act.
UPDATE: Those rumours have been confirmed as at least one Mastodon admin, kev, from fosstodon.org, has been contacted to take part in an off-the-record meeting with Meta. He had the best possible reaction: he refused politely and, most importantly, published the email to be transparent with its users. Thanks kev!
What a hero, whoever you are!