The vast majority of those users want/need a bigger network than is currently available on the Fediverse to get the breadth and depth of content that was on those sites.
Disclaimer, i havent used Threads. But everything i’ve seen from it was just influencer spam, grifting and corporate twitter. I dont think i want that kind of content. Quite the opposite, this is the reason i chose the fediverse.
My hope is that Threads sticks with a shitty algorithmic feed and bombards people with corporate bullshit, and its users find out that independent instances exist and will give them more control.
Why would anyone sign up for those instances if they can just look at that stuff from Threads? Furthermore, it would actually make things more difficult, because explaining the fediverse to people that are coming from a corporate social media but that have already had fediverse content is just going to turn them away. It would be far more comfortable for them to just continue using threads.
Thirdly, it would also influence the federated instances. All the influencer spam and brand bs thats going on over there would also end up on the fediverse.
And lastly, we dont have to win over every user and every bit of content. The fediverse isnt some VC funded social media that requires unlimited growth. If there is nothing good to grow into, it can just stay the size it is and be fine. I dont get the constant arguments for growth if the new content would be the worst social media can offer and the users would be facebook tier grifters.
I dont think i want that kind of content. Quite the opposite, this is the reason i chose the fediverse.
That’s your personal preference. What you call spam others may call content. I expect if your favorite personality / organization / news-provider joined Threads and started posting content there that you don’t consider “spam” then it being in Threads would be an annoyance.
I believe kbin doesn’t have it yet, but some fediverse platforms offer the option to block a particular instance from your feed without limiting everyone else. So that would be an alternative. Even if by default it added Threads in the blocklist of everyone.
I expect you do see some value on federation (seeing how you seem to be participating in some communities beyond your home instance), so I think the question “why would anyone sign up if they can just use Threads” would answer itself if you don’t assume everyone shares your preference.
And it’s perfectly fine if those people turned away by the fediverse don’t join. Personally, I don’t think we should be trying to get everyone to join at all costs or anything like that.
I simply dont see how the fediverse would gain from this. The core of my argument remains that Meta doesnt do things “just because” or because they are “interested” in activitypub. There is no altruism behind this, far from it. And when Meta gains, we loose.
What you call spam others may call content.
Im not stopping anyone from using whatever social media they want, I simply dont want my social media filled with influencer spam, brand social media and grifting. And no, this is not hypocritical, because this:
I believe kbin doesn’t have it yet, but some fediverse platforms offer the option to block a particular instance from your feed without limiting everyone else.
Is simply a pipe dream. Sure, Twitter allows you to only interact with people you want to on a superficial level, but in reality every bigger tweet you look at will be filled with blue checkmark people selling NFT boner pills or something. And no, blocking an instance wont fix the problem, only make it slightly better. Grifters arent known for respecting the “do not talk to me about unsolicited ads” and other fediverse servers will just become a new grifting target until all you do is block people.
I think the question “why would anyone sign up if they can just use Threads” would answer itself if you don’t assume everyone shares your preference.
I made the choice to learn about federation. This isnt me being elitist, federated social media simply is harder to understand. But a lot of people have no interest or time to learn about it, which is completely fine. So obviously they are going to stay at the centralized social media platform where content is served through a laser focus target tested algorithm, which i cant blame them for.
Honestly, Meta never has good intentions so i dont really see a reason to defend my position. If you want to convince me about why we should federate with Meta, make some good arguments.