{"id":4198,"date":"2023-07-07T15:27:11","date_gmt":"2023-07-07T15:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/startups\/dont-join-threads-make-threads-join-you\/"},"modified":"2023-07-07T15:27:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-07T15:27:12","slug":"dont-join-threads-make-threads-join-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=4198","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Join Threads\u2014Make Threads Join You"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As Meta\u2019s Twitter<\/span> competitor, Threads, started generating buzz ahead of yesterday\u2019s launch, curious netizens spotted a placeholder listing for the app in Apple\u2019s App Store. Like all iOS apps, the listing included details about the user data the app is designed to collect and track. And observers couldn\u2019t help but notice that this brand-new app was already listing a whopping 14 categories of data that \u201cmay be collected and linked to your identity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It might be a jarring reminder, but this is par for the course with Meta-owned apps, which the company monetizes by selling targeted ads and personalized marketing. Facebook and Instagram\u2019s iOS apps list even more categories than Threads, the Messenger app lists about as many, and even the secure messaging app WhatsApp discloses nine categories of \u201cData Linked to You.\u201d So for people fed up with Twitter\u2019s rapidly deteriorating platform (and vibes), a Meta-owned alternative\u2014with its predictability and relative stability\u2014could even potentially appeal to those who are generally concerned about data privacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Early data suggests as much: Threads, which is directly linked to users\u2019 Instagram accounts, saw 10 million sign-ups in its first seven hours, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Ultimately, Meta\u2019s pitch for Threads is simply that it\u2019s the devil you know.<\/p>\n

But one thing is different this time: Meta is dangling an opportunity to essentially be on Threads without signing up for the platform at all. The company announced yesterday that it is planning to make Threads interoperable with other, non-Meta social networks that support a decentralized protocol already used by WordPress and 2022\u2019s decentralization poster child, Mastodon. This means that if Meta follows through, you\u2019ll be able to see and interact with Threads content from other platforms and services that support the standard, which is known as ActivityPub.<\/p>\n

Meta says that Threads will start supporting ActivityPub \u201csoon,\u201d a descriptor that doesn\u2019t necessarily inspire confidence. The company has already spent years, for example, working on its longtime promise of default end-to-end encryption on Messenger. But incorporating decentralization into Threads, and specifically supporting ActivityPub, has reportedly been a core aspect of Meta\u2019s vision for the app from the beginning. Meta has also already sketched out details of the plan in its supplemental privacy policy for Threads.<\/p>\n

All of this means that if you\u2019re sick of Meta\u2019s data-gobbling ways, or you don\u2019t already have an Instagram account and don\u2019t want to get one, you actually have some leverage: Don\u2019t join Threads. Use Mastodon or another ActivityPub platform until Threads comes to you. Or hang out on Bluesky, which doesn\u2019t support ActivityPub<\/a> but is working on its own vision of a decentralized, portable social network.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that large platforms are adopting ActivityPub is not only validation of the movement towards decentralized social media, but a path forward for people locked into these platforms to switch to better providers. Which in turn, puts pressure on such platforms to provide better, less exploitative services,” Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko wrote in a blog post ahead of yesterday\u2019s Threads launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n