Threads is coming to the Federation Universe—and we just got our first official look at how it works from Meta itself. At Tuesday’s FediForum conference, Meta’s Peter Cottle showed a brief demonstration of how users will eventually connect their accounts and posts to Fediverse. This integration will allow users to share their posts on different platforms through Threads, allowing them to reach multiple audiences simultaneously. Meta is just one of many platforms aiming to join the fediverse, a set of decentralized social networks designed to connect with each other.
As you can see in the video below, shared by FediForum edge, Cottle can navigate to his Threads account settings and turn on an option called “fediverse sharing.” Meta will then display a popup explaining what exactly the Federation Universe is, along with some disclaimers that Meta will flag to the user so they know what they’re getting into.
First, Meta pointed out that users need to have a public profile to turn on the feature, which Instagram head Adam Mosseri has already mentioned. Users currently in alpha testing also cannot see replies to their posts, only the likes they have received. Cottle said Meta is working “very hard” to change that.
Additionally, Meta warned that if a user decides to delete a post on Threads, Threads cannot “guarantee” that posts on other linked platforms will also be deleted. In other words, your post may still be visible on the linked Mastodon server, even if you decide to delete it using Threads.
“I think it’s a shortcoming of the protocols we use today, but I think it’s important for people to know that if you post something and another server gets a copy, we’re not necessarily going to enforce it, “Cottle said.
Once fediverse sharing is enabled, users will be able to publish to other services interconnected through ActivityPub. Cottle said Threads will “wait five minutes” before sending the post to the federated universe, during which time users will have the opportunity to edit or delete their post. If a Threads user has fediverse sharing enabled, their profile will display a “pill” icon that other users can click to copy their fediverse username.
Cottle demonstrates the process of publishing to the federated universe using Threads, and you can already see how his post is syndicated to Mastodon.
“I know there’s a lot of skepticism about Meta entering the Federation universe – and that’s completely understandable,” Cottle said. “I do want to appeal to, I think everyone on the team has real good intentions. We really want to be good members of the community and give people the ability to experience what the Federation Universe is.”
FediForum is an online event that gives developers the opportunity to showcase the work they are doing in the Fediverse. “It’s good for them, and it’s good for the rest of us to see what they’re doing,” said Johannes Ernst, one of FediForum’s co-founders. edge. “They’re being transparent about what they’re building and why.”
Threads began testing ActivityPub integration last year, and Mosseri said in December that Threads’ plans for a federated universe would likely take “the better part of a year” to come to fruition. Earlier this month, Threads gave Evan Prodromou, one of the creators of the ActivityPub protocol, the ability to publish on Threads and Mastodon. Threads also plans to let users track non-Threads affiliate accounts and let creators take their followers to another platform.
