How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse) écrit par Ploum, Lionel Dricot, ingénieur, écrivain de science-fiction, développeur de logiciels libres.
I know we all dream of having all our friends and family on the Fediverse so we can avoid proprietary networks completely.
Uh... who does? The reason why I'm on semi-anonymous social networks like reddit and now lemmy is because I don't want my real life friends or family to know what shit I post.
I think the ease of creating multiple accounts is a pretty good reason not to worry about this.
Shitpost from your anonymous account. Have another real-name account for interacting with your IRL acquaintances.
I think that could benefit the Fediverse at large because there are some of these friends and family who would go on to be more heavy contributors to content on the broader Fediverse.
Based upon previous behaviour, you can guarantee that Meta will not act in good faith in the long run. IMO they don't give 2 shits about any of the ideals of the fediverse or the open web before that. This is like the Taliban promising that they would be good guys this time around. See point 6.
I'm of the opinion that we do not federate with Meta. I feel their end game is to hoover up as much data as they can and the easiest way for them to do so is to federate and let the Threads users do the work for them.
If I want to browse content from Meta, I'll create a burner account with a federated server and use a standalone browser just for that purpose.
On the one hand, Facebook/Meta are not interested in the health of the fediverse. This is clearly an "embrace, extend, extinguish" move. On the other... they're sure to have a large number of users, which in turn means a large amount of content that we'll want to view/participate in. Each of those users will in turn be an opportunity for us to encourage to migrate to the fediverse.
I feel that the large number of users is a problem, not an asset. What makes a platform good is the engagement level of the users, not the volume. A user who does not want to engage enough to create an account is not likely to be engaged enough to add significant value.
I moved away from Reddit because I don't want to be part of one monolithic site, I want to be engaged with a smaller group that has more creative energy. There is no exclusivity clause that prevents people from using both sites and accessing all the content, but having them federated will lead to homogonisation and ultimately destroy what makes this site different. To extend the milk metaphor, we are the cream, mixing us in with the milk will make it richer, but destroy us.
I agree with your comments re: engagement and community. But Meta federating doesn't impact that. Their users/communities will not suddenly become part of your local feed.
I can understand the appeal of growing numbers but I don't think the risks outweigh the rewards. Unlimited growth is unsustainable anyway. We can exist without Meta. Meta is a poison pill that will eventually monopolize the fediverse if it has its way. This will not be the first time they killed off a decentralized platform.
This is clearly an “embrace, extend, extinguish” move.
Is it? I certainly don't think Meta is doing anything because it's genuinely the "right thing", but that doesn't automatically translate to them already having a deliberate plan to kill off the fediverse by starting to use it before they add on their own proprietary features only available to their users.
My personal opinion would be that there's no need to pre-emptively defederate them. Keep yourself ready to defederate the instant they do something that's directly harmful to the community at large, but until then, hold off and let their users experience what the fediverse has to offer—and let our communities benefit from their increased activity.
I am considering deleting my account and removing myself from the fediverse until I find an instance/s that block Meta and any instance that is associated with them. Because fuck Meta and fuck their demographic...
At least with Fediverse you have the option to move. See the list of instances (not all but many) with their positions on federating/defederating here: https://fedipact.veganism.social/
This is clearly an “embrace, extend, extinguish” move.
I don't think so.
Meta has 2 billion active users on WhatsApp alone, plus Facebook/Instagram and now Threads. The entire fediverse has only 2 million active users - the fediverse is loose change for Meta.
Embrace Extend Extinguish was perfected by Microsoft, until they were smashed by antitrust regulators and narrowly avoided going bankrupt. Regulators are far more strict today and Meta knows that, note they haven't launched in the EU... The fact is Embrace Extend Extinguish would be far more likely to result in Meta being extinguished than the Fediverse. Give regulators half a chance and Threads/WhatsApp/Facebook/Instagram will suddenly be four companies, none of them owned/controlled by Meta.
I think it's more likely Meta expects that breakup to already be in the works - and they see the Fediverse as their protection. Look! Tens of thousands of social networks! And we have a healthy relationship with most of them!
I'm wondering if the main reason for this is because they are currently linking Threads accounts to Instgram?
I know for a while in Germany Meta did not sell their VR headsets because they required a Facebook account to work which was against a German law. Meta have since separated the requirement of a Facebook account to use VR headsets so are now no longer in breach of that law.