Meta dropping Twitter competitor on Thursday

bnew

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Threads is officially starting to test ActivityPub integration


Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company has started testing showing posts on Mastodon and other ActivityPub services.​


By David Pierce and Wes Davis

Dec 13, 2023, 1:22 PM EST|34 Comments / 34 New

STK156_Instagram_threads_1.jpg
An image showing the Threads logo

Illustration: The Verge

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Threads that the platform is beginning to test making Threads posts available on Mastodon and other ActivityPub-supporting services. Zuckerberg wrote that making Threads work with the interoperable standard “will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people.”

Joining the fediverse — the decentralized world of social media that includes Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other services that all interoperate through ActivityPub — has been on the Threads team’s to-do list since the very beginning. Instagram head Adam Mosseri told The Verge in July that he believed decentralizing the platform was key to making it relevant to a new generation of creators. “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 said at the time.

Zuckerberg echoed the sentiment this fall, telling The Verge’s Alex Heath that “my view is that the more that there’s interoperability between different services and the more content can flow, the better all the services can be.” In August, Threads made it possible to verify your account through Mastodon, which isn’t exactly a decentralization feature but was at least a sign of goodwill toward the fediverse.

Skeptics have long held that Threads would never actually federate, even as Zuckerberg, Mosseri, and others at Meta kept promising they would. For the largest and most centralized social service on the web, suddenly throwing open the gates to other platforms seemed like an unlikely pivot. And as Threads got bigger and more mature, ActivityPub integration became a bigger project — and as the platform became more successful, there were more reasons for Meta to try to back off its decentralization plans. But it appears the company might actually do it.

This test appears to only cover one small part of a truly federated social network — it doesn’t sound like you’ll be able to post from Mastodon to Threads, for instance, and you can’t move your account between services. But the test at least reaffirms Meta’s commitment to ActivityPub and to being part of the broader open social web.
 

bnew

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Move Over Twitter, Threads is Going Fediverse​

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Dec 13, 2023 · 2 mins read


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In a surprise announcement, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared that Threads, the company’s Twitter-competitor app, will soon become interoperable with the fediverse via decentralized protocols. This means Threads content and profiles will be viewable on Mastodon and other ActivityPub-based social platforms.

“Making Threads interoperable will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people. I’m pretty optimistic about this,” said Zuckerberg.

For those thinking “fedi-whatsit?”, here’s a quick explainer. The fediverse refers to a collection of independent, decentralized social media servers. Together, they facilitate open access and data portability across platforms. Power comes from the collective, not a centralized authority like Meta.

By tapping into the fediverse, Threads plugs into a network of millions of users across thousands of servers. It divides Meta’s dominance and lets users decide where and how to engage. Of course, Meta still profits from all the Threads activity, so maybe it’s not feeling too altruistic.

Understandably, some fediverse mods aren’t thrilled by a Meta invasion. But most see it as a step toward data liberation from walled gardens. Users get more control over their content rather than being locked in Zuckerberg’s kingdom.

For now, Mastodon users can follow Threads profiles but not vice versa. It’s a start, and the plan is for full interoperability. Back in August, Threads also added Mastodon profile verification. Slowly but surely, Meta is decentralizing Threads.



What Does This Mean for You?​

As a Threads user, your content and profile may suddenly gain a whole new audience on the fediverse. Mastodon alone has millions of monthly users. This unlocks serious exposure potential.

Your posts made on Threads could end up displayed to a indie bookshop owner in Edinburgh or a goat farmer in Peru - not the usual crowd for polished, blue-checkmarked metaverse citizens. But it does expand horizons.

You also gain more control over your data. If you ever leave Threads, your content comes with you and remains visible. Things you share, like photos and comments won’t disappear into a Meta void. Portability is freedom.

For Meta, embracing federation signals they are serious about decentralization and open ecosystems. They see the backlash against data exploitation and loss of privacy. The fediverse aligns incentives around user needs, not profit.

Maybe Meta is changing its ways or just paying lip service; the coming months will tell. Butconnecting Threads to the fediverse is a trailblazing move, no matter the motivation.



Other Fediverse Platforms to Watch​

Threads will exchange ActivityPub data with Mastodon first but that’s just one fediverse server. The concept transcends individual platforms. Other notable fediverse apps include:


  • PeerTube: Video sharing alternative to YouTube
  • PixelFed: Photo feed and galleries, like Instagram
  • Friendica: Facebook-style profiles and timelines
  • Lemmy: An alternative to Reddit hosted in various places.

Notice that I did not mention Hive or Steemit, which are simply frontends to single blockchain backends.

In time, Threads could integrate with many or all of these. For now it’s Mastodon, but the possibilities span gaming, events, messaging, video - anything communication-related.

As they say, the fediverse is the limit. This initial bridging from Threads is only the beginning as the next era of social interaction takes shape.
 
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Bluesky posts are finally open to the public​

The platform also has a new logo — a butterfly.​


By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

Dec 22, 2023, 6:21 PM EST|52 Comments / 52 New

bafkreidypzoaybmfj5h7pnpiyct6ng5yae6ydp4czrm72ocg7ev6vbirri.jpg
An image of Bluesky’s new logo.

Image: Bluesky

Bluesky remains an invite-only decentralized Twitter alternative, but now, you don’t need to have an account and log in to be able to see posts on the platform, according to a blog post from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber. Now, anyone can easily see posts from both the web and from the Bluesky app — like this one.

If you want to prevent people who aren’t logged in from seeing your posts, you can “discourage” that by clicking a toggle in settings. But Bluesky notes that “other apps may not honor this request” and that the toggle doesn’t make your account private.

“Bluesky is an open and public network,” Bluesky says in a note under the toggle. “This setting only limits the visibility of your content on the Bluesky app and website, and other apps may not respect this setting.” In the blog post, Graber notes that “posts on Bluesky have always been public via developer tooling and other apps.”

Bluesky has a new logo, too: a butterfly. Previously, the app’s logo was a blue sky with clouds, but “early on, we noticed that people were organically using the butterfly emoji 🦋 to indicate their Bluesky handles,” Graber says in the blog post. “The butterfly speaks to our mission of transforming social media into something new.”

I think the butterfly is a big improvement from the generic blue sky. And, as spotted by my colleague Parker Ortolani, the app has a fun animation that will feel familiar to fans of Twitter. (I do mean Twitter, not X.)

With the increasing momentum behind ActivityPub — including the very public support from Meta’s Threads — I’ve worried that Bluesky, which is based on its own AT Protocol, might get left behind. But every time I hop over to my Bluesky account, it seems like people are having a lot of fun — the platform seems to be growing quickly, too — so hopefully the protocols can co-exist and usher in a fediverse future.





 

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Bluesky posts are finally open to the public​

The platform also has a new logo — a butterfly.​


By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

Dec 22, 2023, 6:21 PM EST|52 Comments / 52 New

bafkreidypzoaybmfj5h7pnpiyct6ng5yae6ydp4czrm72ocg7ev6vbirri.jpg
An image of Bluesky’s new logo.

Image: Bluesky

Bluesky remains an invite-only decentralized Twitter alternative, but now, you don’t need to have an account and log in to be able to see posts on the platform, according to a blog post from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber. Now, anyone can easily see posts from both the web and from the Bluesky app — like this one.

If you want to prevent people who aren’t logged in from seeing your posts, you can “discourage” that by clicking a toggle in settings. But Bluesky notes that “other apps may not honor this request” and that the toggle doesn’t make your account private.

“Bluesky is an open and public network,” Bluesky says in a note under the toggle. “This setting only limits the visibility of your content on the Bluesky app and website, and other apps may not respect this setting.” In the blog post, Graber notes that “posts on Bluesky have always been public via developer tooling and other apps.”

Bluesky has a new logo, too: a butterfly. Previously, the app’s logo was a blue sky with clouds, but “early on, we noticed that people were organically using the butterfly emoji 🦋 to indicate their Bluesky handles,” Graber says in the blog post. “The butterfly speaks to our mission of transforming social media into something new.”

I think the butterfly is a big improvement from the generic blue sky. And, as spotted by my colleague Parker Ortolani, the app has a fun animation that will feel familiar to fans of Twitter. (I do mean Twitter, not X.)

With the increasing momentum behind ActivityPub — including the very public support from Meta’s Threads — I’ve worried that Bluesky, which is based on its own AT Protocol, might get left behind. But every time I hop over to my Bluesky account, it seems like people are having a lot of fun — the platform seems to be growing quickly, too — so hopefully the protocols can co-exist and usher in a fediverse future.






Yeah, Bluesky is gonna be available to the general public sometime next year. I wanna say in the spring.
 

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The Threads API is finally here!​

June 18, 2024ByJesse Chen

448322943_3648759908708658_6413349460730401699_n.jpg

Today at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, we announced that the Threads API is now available to all developers. We believe it will enable creators, developers and brands to build their own unique integrations, manage their Threads presence at scale, and easily share inspiring content with their communities.

What can the Threads API do for you?​

People can now publish posts via the API, fetch their own content, and leverage our reply management capabilities to set reply and quote controls, retrieve replies to their posts, hide, unhide or respond to specific replies. Insights are one of our top requested features for the API, so we are making it possible for people to see key metrics: the number of views, likes, replies, reposts, and quotes at media and account level, and the number of followers as well as follower demographics for your account.

How can you get started with the Threads API?​

You can visit our self-serve developer documentation to learn more about integrating today. If you have not built a use case app on Meta’s developer platform, find out how to create and customize an app with the Threads API use case here.

Use the sample app to accelerate the integration

Our open-source Threads API sample app is now available to serve as a practical guide, enabling you to better understand the API and troubleshoot any issues by referencing a working implementation. It simplifies the integration process, accelerates development time, and ensures a smoother implementation experience for developers.

What our Beta partners think of the API​

Earlier this year, we started testing the Threads API with a small number of partners: Grabyo, Hootsuite, Social News Desk, Sprinklr, Sprout Social and Techmeme. We are grateful to have them join us on this journey and for all the feedback they shared along the way. Here are a few insights they shared about the Threads API:

“The launch of the API, combined with the growth of the Threads global user base, brings this important update to the Grabyo platform, something which was in high demand from our Media and Entertainment and Sports customers.” - Gareth Capon, CEO, Grabyo



"Threads is a fast-growing network that reflects where social is headed, and the capabilities that this API integration makes possible for our customers is taking Hootsuite’s mission of unlocking social relationships to a new level. I’m excited to watch this integration drive our customers’ social media performance.” - Elina Vilk, Chief Marketing Officer, Hootsuite



“The Threads API Beta Partner experience has been fantastic! The API is well designed and the onboarding process is incredibly easy.” - Aaron King, CTO, Social News Desk



“We look forward to empowering our customers to create and post content, engage customers, drive revenue and analyze performance on Threads alongside all their other social channel campaigns within the comprehensive Sprinklr platform.” - Jim Tomanchek, Vice President of Global Partnerships, Sprinklr



“We were excited to join the Threads API Beta, where we collaborated closely with the Meta product teams on the development and implementation of the Threads API. As a result of our partnership, we enabled Threads for all 30,000+ Sprout Social customers on day one; and we’re thrilled to give our customers the platform to continue to grow their business and build genuine connections on Threads.” - Ryan Barretto, President, Sprout Social
 

bnew

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i had a userscript that worked to display threads.net embeds on the coli and all of a sudden yesterday it stopped working.. now i know why. :martin:

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