More than a few Meta employees showed up at FediForum earlier this week, doubling down on their commitment to open protocols and “being a good neighbor on the Fediverse”. While there were some demos and fruitful conversations, one public concern flew under the radar.

An eagle-eyed Threads user noticed that their status giving Pixelfed a positive mention was seemingly hidden from the tree of a public conversation. From there, coverage picked up across the network, and even made it back to Daniel Supernault, Pixelfed’s creator.

“Meta is free to do whatever they want on their platforms,” the developer mentioned, “and I hope this is a bug.”

For now, no one’s quite sure. Various people have tried to recreate the same situation with their Threads accounts, and their comments are still publicly available. We have yet to see a statement from the Threads team on the situation.

Bug or not, a vocal part of the network is apprehensive about Meta’s true intentions with the platform, ranging from pessimism on how much effort Threads is really putting in to the Fediverse, to accusations of hostile behavior. Dropping the ball like this can hurt user confidence, especially when building community goodwill is so crucial.

Prior History

Pixelfed has something of an established history with being at odds with Meta. Some of that points to Pixelfed’s form factor, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Instagram.
Left: my Pixelfed, Right: my Instagram
In the past, the project was warned by a Meta employee about using the same filter names and styles for images, citing a potential violation of Meta’s intellectual property. Pixelfed complied, and changed their image filters and styles in hopes of sidestepping the issue. It never came up again.

Pixelfed filters

Additionally, there have been situations in the past where both Twitter and Facebook have censored posts linking to open source Fediverse alternatives. Even if Threads is an effort to right wrongs of the past, these situations don’t reflect well on Threads or its parent company.

When is a bug just a bug?

For all we know right now, this is very likely an unfortunate bug. However, it’s important for the Threads team to nip this in the bud, if they really want to establish good vibes about their efforts.

FediPact is an Organized Effort to Block Meta’s ActivityPub Platform

https://wedistribute.org/2023/06/fedipact-blocking-meta/embed/#?secret=7cLoHjF70r#?secret=2YsFyid9V9

On the other hand, it’s important to acknowledge that there’s a segment of the network that won’t be satisfied with an explanation, no matter how much evidence is presented. Some people will block Meta no matter what, and that’s their choice.

Regardless, we’ll keep you posted if we learn anything more.

https://wedistribute.org/2024/03/is-threads-hiding-pixelfed/

#Meta

We Distribute

2023-06-20 01:00:43

The fediverse has been aware of Meta’s intention to build an ActivityPub app for some time now. Purportedly called Threads, this “Project92” looks like it will be a Twitter competitor, and will be compatible with Mastodon instances. Rumors have spread that Project92 is courting the Dalai Lama and Oprah Winfrey, to overtake Elon Musk’s dumpster fire.

The infamous linked screenshot of “Threads” / “Barcelona” / “Project 92” being presented.

To begin with, Project92’s existence was always going to bring some unease to the network. A growing number of instance admins have signed FediPact, an agreement to block Meta from connecting with them. The effort, organized by one Vanta Black, opened up a passionate discussion about the network’s future. Admins and users alike have given passionate statements about the possibilities.

I will do everything I can to stop them from burning down the beautiful community we’ve spent over seven years cultivating here.

Vanta Black, creator of FediPact

For many, the reaction makes sense. The walled gardens that so many users have migrated from were vectors for abuse, poor moderation, and data harvesting. That’s a big part of why so many people want nothing to do with it.

Reasons for the Ban

Throughout the discourse, people have cited some of the ills that Facebook has inflicted on the world. The company is responsible for poor working conditions for third-party moderators, presenting itself as the entire internet to some populations, embrace and abandonment of open protocols, and algorithms contributing to genocide in Myanmar. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

They will absolutely not moderate their shit properly, and it will make the areas of the fediverse that choose to federate with them actively unsafe.

Vanta Black

Whether FediPact is an effective way to stop value extraction out of an independently-run network is up for debate. Rumors are swirling, with accusations that some admins have signed NDAs to have private discussions with Meta.

https://wedistribute.org/2023/06/fedipact-blocking-meta/

#Barcelona #fediverse #Meta #P92 #Threads

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^{Olivia Solon (The Guardian)}