ELI5: Why are Lemmy users freaking out over threads?

Meta wants to consume the fediverse.

https://ploum.net/2023-06-23-how-to-kill-decentralised-networks.html

There's a lot of anxiety because it's topical. Nearly ever user here I'd wager, myself included, just flipped to Lemmy as we watched Reddit break the camel's back.

I think what most people don't quite realize though is why this is happening. Reddit isn't just gearing up for an IPO, they're transitioning to the model spearheaded by Apple: you access their ecosystem exclusively through their platform.

Every large tech company is trying to play this game. They are developing hardware that gives sole access to their platform which in turn controls the experience and distribution of their content. Apple is best at it and massively profitable, but everyone is trying it. Most already have the software>>>content pipeline locked down, it's the hardware they can't get right.

That being said, Meta understands that the easiest way to grow Threads is to flip Instagram and Facebook users, not Mastadon users. The easiest way to keep users is not some defederation long con, it's to get your grandma and your spouse on their platform. The goal for Meta is to reach a critical mass tipping point, where as a society, most people agree you just have to have an account through them to be part of a larger conversation. They aren't trying to kill federalized platforms directly, because it's easier to skip that step and try to make every platform that isn't their own second tier at best. It's in their best interest to ignore everyone else and just on-board as much of their Instagram and Facebook base as possible in the next year.

Threads will be part of the fediverse. This means that thread users can interact with Lemmy, Mastodon, and Kbin users.

There will be a huge number of thread users, it will probably quickly become the largest part of the fediverse.

Some people think that threads users will migrate to other fediverse applications and help the fediverse. Other people think that fediverse users will migrate to threads since it will have more features and the fediverse will die if threads defederates from everything.

There's a general, well founded, distrust of meta. Theres a general theory going around that they will embrace, extend and extinguish the fediverse. It will ride the wave of federation then when it gets large enough it will defederate or add some dumb feature that will break all compatibility. The problem with this strategy is it will bring them in front of a court for anti-conpetitive behavior, just like what happened to Microsoft every time it tried to do this, and possibly break up the whole company as instagram might get shaved off too. There's a reason Google doesn't try to do this with chrome or gmail, they learned it's a bad strategy from Microsoft. The reality is the fediverse as it stands right now is a blip to meta, a blip they can point to and say they aren't a monopoly, but just a blip, not some radical existential threat that needs to be destroyed.

Wow. Reading the heavyhanded corporate plays by people like musk, Reddit’s c-suite, and now the fears about Threads it’s like the corporatocracy is trying to crush and/or consume independent social media.

Because companies like Meta embrace, extend and extinguish.

does anyone know about the tumblr activity pub federation that was meant to happen?

Out of the frying pan into the fire.

Because it's going to be better than this place in a week and the folks in lemmy right now are the typical privacy zealots.

They are frightened at threads being more successful.