[d_theorist]

>Will Meta embrace-extend-extinguish the ActivityPub protocol?

>There are comparisons to be made between Meta adopting ActivityPub for its new social media platform and Meta adopting XMPP for its Messenger service a decade ago. There was a time when users of Facebook and users of Google Talk were able to chat with each other and with people from self-hosted XMPP servers, before each platform was locked down into the silos we know today. What would stop that from repeating? Well, even if Threads abandoned ActivityPub down the line, where we would end up is exactly where we are now. XMPP did not exist on its own outside of nerd circles, while ActivityPub enjoys the support and brand recognition of Mastodon.

Isn't this a bit naive? The risk I see is that Threads embraces ActivityPub, gets its claws into the Mastodon network, gets loads of people subscribing to Threads accounts (and vice versa), and then starts adding features or "improving" the protocol. Mastodon instances have a choice between either staying interoperable by keeping up with the FB version of ActivityPub, or creating a schism, which users might not like. Ultimately Facebook could end up in the driver's seat of the protocol.