Mastodon performance update and Meta Threads [Email]

5 points

3 years ago

A very special thanks to those of you who have supported our community through https://sdf.org/support - We are truly grateful.

This weekend we've made substantial improvements in the distribution of the instance across a cluster of servers which we hope you will notice and enjoy. While usage and new user signup continues to go down, we are still well above any daily usage we saw from 2017 - September 2022, which is really amazing.

Many have asked about the launch of Meta's Threads. Here are some answers:

* Has Meta contacted SDF?

  Meta has not contacted SDF.  If we were contacted we have no interest in
  conducting business with them and if asked would not sign an NDA to 
  discuss the their business matters.

* Will SDF block Threads?

  There may be no other choice.  If Threads was launched with federation 
  we could measure their impact on our instance and others through community
  discussions on irc and discord.  While Meta has been hyping threads as 
  growing quickly, it is clear that the signup rate is from their existing
  Instagram customer pool and the numbers are likely a bit inflated.

  That being said, what is concerning is that by reaching 100,000,000 or more
  and *then* switching on federation we could experience a "snuffing out".
  While ActivityPub relies on relationships to interconnect the fediverse if
  they truly have 100,000,000 active users it could completely overwhelm 
  small to medium instances that make those connections forcing them to
  block Threads.

Please keep in mind we're building the social network we all want and you are a part of this. The road might get bumpy for a bit, but remember the Mastodon Covenant and the principles of a non-commercial internet. When Threads comes up in conversations with friends you can help them understand the importance of community diversity, decentralization and a non-commercial internet.

From what we understand Mastodon CEO/Founder Eugen Rochko has been in direct communication with Meta regarding their intent with the Fediverse and has subsequently written a blog post here:

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/07/what-to-know-about-threads/

Meta may force a split into two Fediverses, but ultimately Meta will need to make theirs pay. A positive thing to realize is that it shows we're on the right path and it may just be a matter of weathering the storm. We may end up just where we are today which is a Fediverse that does not include Meta.

Stay positive and enjoy being part of your community!

https://mastodon.sdf.org

There may be no other choice. If Threads was launched with federation we could measure their impact on our instance and others through community discussions on irc and discord. While Meta has been hyping threads as growing quickly, it is clear that the signup rate is from their existing Instagram customer pool and the numbers are likely a bit inflated. That being said, what is concerning is that by reaching 100,000,000 or more and *then* switching on federation we could experience a "snuffing out". While ActivityPub relies on relationships to interconnect the fediverse if they truly have 100,000,000 active users it could completely overwhelm small to medium instances that make those connections forcing them to block Threads.