Meta can introduce their signature rage farming to the Fediverse. They don’t need to control Mastodon. All they have to do is introduce it in their app. Show every Threads user algorithmically filtered content from the Fediverse precisely tailored for maximum rage. When the rage inducing content came from Mastodon, the enraged Thread users will flood that Mastodon threads with the familiar rage-filled Facebook comment section vomit. This in turn will enrage Mastodon users, driving them to engage, at least in the short to mid term. All the while Meta sells ads in-between posts. And that’s how they rage farm the Fediverse without EEE-ing the technology. Meta can effectively EEE the userbase. The last E is something Meta may not intend but would likely happen. It consists of a subset of the Fediverse users leaving the network or segregating themselves in a small vomit-free bubble.
Some people asked what EEE is:
What does EEE stand for?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish
For an excellent writeup how Google used this to kill XMPP read this (and an explanation why this is a real concern for Mastadon/Fediverse):
https://ploum.net/2023-06-23-how-to-kill-decentralised-networks.html
Embrace, extend, extinguish.
It’s the three steps process for killing an open source competitor. First you adopt it, start using it, then you improve on it, but keep these improvements to yourself, then you break compatibility.
You now have the bigger better version of the exact same thing, and no-one else gets a slice.
Endorse-Expand-Extingush or some variation. In essence you:
- Adopt the technologies.
- Expand within the community and inflate user interaction.
- Cut off the free elements / monopolise the platform
You’ll see loads of historic examples of this and various theories on how Meta intends to do it. Fascinating if not depressing reading.
EEE. Some useful context.
