Meta’s latest move: a blatant attempt to dominate the open social web, aka the fediverse, as it announces plans to dump its users’ content all over the internet. On Wednesday, the company revealed that Threads will now automatically share its users’ posts across the fediverse, including services like X (formerly Twitter), Mastodon, Pixelfed, and more. But why stop there? Meta is also quietly integrating its own API with popular scheduling services, allowing it to harvest even more user data for its own nefarious purposes.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s X continues to struggle, having limited its API access and raised prices in an attempt to squeeze more revenue out of its users. It’s no wonder, then, that Meta is trying to capitalize on the fediverse’s popularity by assimilating it into its own social media empire.
But what does this mean for users? For one, they’ll be able to see replies from other users on different platforms, a feature that’s still in beta and under development. Yes, you read that right – even though Meta is touting this as a major innovation, users can’t yet reply to these federated replies. It’s a strange move, to say the least, that seems designed to keep users hooked into the Meta ecosystem.
So why should you care? Well, for one, this move cementing Meta’s dominance over the social web. With its vast resources and army of developers, Meta will be able to shape the fediverse in its own image, potentially strangling the decentralized, open-source movement that has given rise to independent social networks like Mastodon.
And don’t even get me started on the implications for user privacy. By integrating its API with popular scheduling services, Meta will have access to even more user data, including sensitive information about their online activity. It’s a chilling reminder that our online lives are increasingly being manipulated by corporate interests.
