Big takeaways, emphasis preserved from the original:
Threads is entering a space in the fediverse which is dominated by Mastodon, so it's Mastodon and other fediverse microblogging services (including, to some extent, /kbin) which will most heavily feel the impact of Threads.
Defederating another server means your instance will stop requesting content from that server. ... Defederation is about what data comes in, not what goes out. ... Defederation doesn't make you invisible, it doesn't block anybody else from seeing you, it doesn't protect your content, it only means you never have to see their content.
Firstly, the fediverse is a drop in the ocean compared to Threads (104 million registered users). Obviously, Meta wants everybody, but their specific goals in terms of user-poaching are far more likely to center around the ~350 million active Twitter users than the ~12 million fediverse users (~3.5 million active). The threadiverse [Lemmy, Kbin, et al] is smaller again, at something like 100,000 active users.
"Threads will overwhelm the fediverse with their inferior content and culture." Like the EEE fears, this one is legitimate but once again something that will primarily be felt by microblogging providers (/kbin included). Toxic users, advertisers, etc. can push garbage into feeds all day, but they will largely not be targeting the threadiverse because there's some 100 million sets of eyes to put that crap in front of on the microblogging side and it will be difficult-to-impossible for them to push that content into Lemmy/kbin threads from their interface that was never made to interact with the threadiverse.
Is there any chance Meta has good intentions?No. But it might have intentions that are both self-serving and fediverse-neutral. The absolute best intention I can possibly ascribe to Meta is that joining the fediverse is a CYA (cover your ass) mechanism to head off regulations, especially in the EU, [e.g.] the newly-applicable Digital Markets Act ...
Defederation is about what an instance allows in, not what an instance allows out. Defederation stops you seeing the defederated instance's content, but it does not stop them seeing your instance's content.
Threads poses some danger to the fediverse, in particular the portion of it centered around microblogging (mostly Mastodon, but also Pleroma, parts of /kbin, etc.), but very little risk to the threadiverse.
The worst thing about the fediverse is all the fondue, but you don't have to eat it.
Emphasis from the original post.
This is a detailed summary, thank you for linking.
I have also read some other POVs here; my fears are not totally allayed and I still think Meta is only engaing with Activity Pub to prevent new, potential competitors arising from it.
I hope the OP is right about it being very little risk to the Threadiverse. The good news is that Threads is focused enitrely on microblogging and not the Threadiverse. Perhaps that means Kbin and Lemmy users will be able to sit on the sidelines and see how it plays out for a bit, idk. Mastodon users will be seeing the most change.
The issue is that this does affect Kbin because Kbin is a microblogging platform. It's also a thread aggregator, but it has microblog functionality that some people do actually use. Should we not defederate, stuff from Threads will flood the microblogs of Kbin. If your home page is set to use the All Content feed (like mine is), you'll see microblogs from Threads there. This doesn't have as much of an effect as it does on a purely microblogging-focused platform like Mastodon, but it does still affect a big way that Kbin is used.
Right, and that’s part of why I remain a skeptic. Kbin’s microblog being overtaken by Thread’s content could very well limit kbin’s growth and viability as a microblogging platform - especially if Meta pulls the plug later.
But, I have also seen the opinion that not having Threads content could make kbin unappealing as a microblogging platform. (I’m not sure if I agree with this, but I have seen it mentioned.)
I guess the questions are, Can Kbin grow with Threads content? And, Will the lack of Threads content make it unappealing to new users?
Also, another problem I think is that kbin might not have the userbase and content yet to be self-sustaining when faced with a goliath company like Meta; if we produced as much content as Threads will (or enough to the point that defederating kbin would hurt Threads) then there wouldn’t be much of a concern.
Idk, Threads is ultimately the one forcing the situation (probably intentionally) where federating with them is risky but also refusing to do so could be self-isolating. I still maintain that they’re doing it now while the fediverse is still young for a reason, and that is so they can grab so much of the “fondue” that everyone comes to them anyway.
I would like to see kbin succeed, and I don’t trust Meta. Whatever kbin decides to do I will be here for it, but I’m definitely a Meta skeptic.
To put my own skin in the game, I quite like the microblogging side of kbin. I like that I can swap between the thread and blog sides, I like that I can combine them into one view if I choose, and I like that I don't need a separate account to use either service. Using kbin's microblog was the first time I ever blogged, period. I'd hate to see that stream be overwhelmed by Threads users.
Exactly one of the reasons why I remain a skeptic.
I don’t want sound too much like I’m complaining about “Eternal September” but I quite like how kbin’s microblog is right now. Having millions of threads users suddenly flood it with random… crap… would change it forever.
I haven’t used instagram in more than half a decade. When I hopped on to see what it was like recently, I hardly recognized it and all the content was completely irrelevant. I would hate to see that happen to the microblog.
I really love Tildes, but the comments in this thread are fair enough criticisms, and pretty accurate.
The only thing I'd clarify in the comments here is that there's not really a "waiting list" for invites. Deimos accepts emails requesting invites, and people receive access as he responds to each email. Users also get 5 invites every few weeks, so you can ask people for one here or on /r/redditalternatives. Or in the invite threads that are posted in /r/tildes. And the invite system isn't used to make it feel "exclusive" (especially since it's pretty easy to get one,) it's used because the site has been around for years with an existing userbase, so there's an effort to gradually add users to Tildes so the site doesn't just turn into 99% disgruntled redditors.
Tildes simply doesn't have the goals of "reddit alternatives" that are hoping to launch a new, popular site. It's just doing its own thing. Personally I find it refreshing, but it's definitely not for people who want to be part of the next "reddit" with millions of other people.
Actually, since you all aren't being assholes about your criticisms of it, this gives me a good feeling about kbin. I was going to try this site as an alternative before I found Tildes and have been spending most of my time there, but I'll probably hang around here eventually, for content that doesn't belong on Tildes (image posts, memes, and other silly stuff.)
Tildes simply doesn't have the goals of "reddit alternatives" that are hoping to launch a new, popular site. It's just doing its own thing. Personally I find it refreshing, but it's definitely not for people who want to be part of the next "reddit" with millions of other people.
Sure, I definitely respect that and it is one of the things I like about it. I like the way it's focused on conversations over cut n paste memes.
But I think I've found a similar experience here on Kbin by blocking meme heavy groups and joining more specific communities. I'm still going to check out Tildes every now and then though
Who says they failed? They look like a stunning success to me, considering how much growth the fediverse and alternatives like squabbles got during that time, and the momentum has kept up after.
Even now more and more groups are moving off reddit to something else.
And I guess you didn't see this year's final r/place picture.
From a monetary point of view, spez will probably win. He'll destroy reddit completely in his quest for the IPO, and get to the point where the numbers are juiced up enough that he can sell high, make a huge chunk of money, and take his exit. But that doesn't negate our success.
Just because your system is automated doesn't mean it's free of bias. LLMs are trained on human-generated content. Human-generated content has biases. The model will reflect those biases. There's also the proclivity of GPT to be confidently incorrect, like when it made up completely bogus court cases and a credulous lawyer used them in an actual case. I wouldn't want to get my news from a source that may be lying to my face.
But that’s exactly the thing. I don’t get my news from comanies that outright lie. With the LLMs you don’t really know, so it’s not exactly trustworthy either.
I agree that people should not use the terms toxic masculinity and patriarchy, as they are habitually used to generalize and discriminate against men. They are offensive and misandrist. (Maybe that's a better wording than "it hurts men's feelings", which some people have a problem with.)
And yes, when you mean egalitarianism, don't say feminism. Tho used as a term to refer to a misandrist movement, feminism is fine.
PeerTube is great, it just needs more content. The only instance with good content is tilvids.com and there isn’t much there other than Linux content. The problem with PeerTube is that there’s no creator funding model, so creators don’t have any incentive to use PeerTube instead of YouTube where they can get paid.
This is crazy…I just now checked my iOS App Store and it says it’s 4.8/5 stars. I left a 1 star review 3-4 weeks ago and it never showed up in the reviews. I checked for over a week and either they didn’t post it, or it was removed quickly. And trust me.. it wasn’t filled with obscenities or specific names “spez” or anything like that. (Unlike some I can see that actually made it in the reviews)
Strangely enough the “newest” review gave Reddit 5 stars but is titled..”Reddits API changes are killing it” and goes on to complain about bots, NSFW, Admin Abuse, and “spez is letting it happen “ umm does this reviewer not know how stars work???
I’m also in the USA. But it’s making me upset that I clearly can’t trust the App store’s reviews now. Since in my experience… they’re misleading/erroneous/deleted/ or in my case omitted. 😡
The issue isn’t that those words hurt anyone’s feelings, the issue is that they skew the discussion because they’re established expressions and therefore give some undeserved credibility to whoever uses them.
It’s good to see Lemmy getting some love, athough I did get a chuckle at the “this whole fediverse concept is so hard to get your head around” stuff. They are so used to being fed what the algorithm delivers that they are lost without it. It’s so touchingly Orwellian.
@nlm Thank you, these will come in handy and I'll have to test it out on my test rig (It's not the best but if I can test out a program on it, Might as well.)
By keeping it going. It's very regrettable that it fractured, but I guess at this point it can't be helped. My mistake was misjudging the willingness of active participants to jump ship, tho I am happy to see some of you did make it over. I am here for you, as long as I perceive there is a need for this community. It did hurt to get misrepresented and blamed for things outside of my control by a former top contributor to the subreddit. His ego, his inflated sense of self-importance, and his blind anger only resulted in further fracturing of the community. It really took me by surprise, and caused me a lot of stress, which is why I have been quiet for the past week.
There is no chance in hell I am going back to Reddit, after the absolutely shameful way that company treated us. And I don't understand anyone (especially a left-wing activist) willing to tolerate that, or even more: volunteering to curate content for them, especially after the degradation in service which is affecting effective moderation (e.g. BotDefense).
And I don't understand anyone (especially a left-wing activist) willing to tolerate that,
Sadly because it's easier to spam "Fuck spez" and act like that's doing something rather than make an actual change in their life, like dropping reddit all together. It was one of the things I disliked most about the site.
volunteering to curate content for them, especially after the degradation in service which is affecting effective moderation
My best guess it shortsightedness mixed with power hunger. They probably only see that sweet mod position where you can delete any opinion you disagree with or any user deemed "problematic" without thinking about the work that would actually go into modding a botless subreddit. But that's just me pulling that out of my ass.
But enough about that, I am glad that in some way shape or form, this community is still going!
Hi @Upvotes_Kills_Birds ! Really glad to see someone testing out the discussion thread format in our magazine!
Will you please edit your title so that it starts with 'Discussion:' to help differentiate it from other submissions to news/opinion pieces?
The mod team is finalizing our magazine's side bar rules, but our approach to moderating Discussion threads is going to be an "enter at your own risk" caveat, so having those spaces clearly marked helps communicate to users that they should expect opposing views in the comments more than some news items may invite.
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