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Threads to reportedly allow account migration from Threads (www.theverge.com)

submitted 1 year ago by jason@lemmy.weiser.social to c/technology@lemmy.world

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The head of Instagram apparently says it’ll be possible to migrate accounts from Threads, retaining at least that part of the ActivityPub protocol.

Meta plans to eventually hook Threads into ActivityPub, the decentralized social media protocol that also powers Mastodon. That integration isn’t ready at launch, though, as I previously reported. When it’s enabled, Threads users will be able to interact with Mastodon users and take their accounts with them to other clients that support the ActivityPub standard. As Mosseri puts it, this is a move designed to appease creators who have grown increasingly wary of relying on the whims of centralized social media companies. “I think we might be a more compelling platform for creators, particularly for the newer creators who are more and more savvy, if we are a place where you don’t have to feel like you have to trust us forever,” he says.

If true, it seems like a positive development. This is a Mastodon (and Calckey and Misskey and everyone else, of course) account tool that I thought there was no way they’d allow.

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[–] Mereo@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is Eugene Rochko's answer (CEO of Mastodon) regarding the question:

Will Meta embrace-extend-extinguish the ActivityPub protocol?

There are comparisons to be made between Meta adopting ActivityPub for its new social media platform and Meta adopting XMPP for its Messenger service a decade ago. There was a time when users of Facebook and users of Google Talk were able to chat with each other and with people from self-hosted XMPP servers, before each platform was locked down into the silos we know today. What would stop that from repeating? Well, even if Threads abandoned ActivityPub down the line, where we would end up is exactly where we are now. XMPP did not exist on its own outside of nerd circles, while ActivityPub enjoys the support and brand recognition of Mastodon.

Source: https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/07/what-to-know-about-threads/

[–] titaniumarmor@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

The brand recognition of Mastodon is a rounding error for players like Meta and Google. The fediverse needs time to grow its user base. If we open the doors to the tech giants from the start, then their users will have no motivation to leave those platforms. On the other hand, we would leave ourselves vulnerable to the allure of moving back to the tech giants whenever they decide the time is right to cut us out of their walled gardens.

If we want decentralized social networking to thrive, then we have to leave big tech out of the equation.