• by Colin Kirkland , December 13, 2023

In a move toward the “fediverse,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday that the company is running a test that makes posts from its X competitor app, Threads, accessible on Mastodon, a popular decentralized social messaging app, “and other services that use the ActivityPub protocol.”

ActivityPub is the basis for the fediverse, the decentralized hub of interoperable social-media platforms that includes Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other services. Meta has made claims about aligning with ActivityPub since Threads’ initial launch, stating that it would make the app more relevant to a younger demographic and newer creators.

“We’re committed to building support for ActivityPub, the protocol behind Mastodon, into this app,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in July. “We weren’t able to finish it for launch given a number of complications that come along with a decentralized network, but it’s coming.”

Later last summer, Threads made it possible for users to verify their profile on Mastodon, allowing users to link two accounts via “rel=me” links.

In his announcement Wednesday, Zuckerberg said that making Threads interoperable “will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people.”

Zuckerberg, however, did not provide any further details on how the integration with ActivityPub and Mastodon will work.

What remains clear is that the test is only applicable to a sliver of the federated social network, enabling posting from Threads to Mastodon but not the other way around. If the test is expanded, this could likely change.

Despite the test’s restrictions, Meta is breaking new ground here. As the largest and most centralized social media company in the world, Meta is setting a new precedent for interoperability in the social sphere and the possibilities of a more decentralized digital future.