Meta's Threads Unveils Fediverse Integration Beta: Cross-Posting on Platforms Now Possible

Quincy Jon, Tech Times 21 March 2024, 09:03 pm

Threads has launched fediverse integration in beta in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the development of the functionality that lets users enable cross-posting and view Mastodon likes in a Thursday post.

Threads showcased fediverse integration at FediForum this week. Fediverse lets users on other servers locate and follow their profile, watch their postings, engage with their content, and share it with everyone on and off their server, according to The Verge.

Notably, Fediverse sharing requires a public account, per Meta's help page.

Decentralizing Threads

Once enabled, Mastodon users may access your Threads profile, like, repost, and share your content with numerous audiences. This lets you connect with folks using social media applications other than Threads.

But there are limits. For instance, threads won't show who liked or reacted to your posts from different servers. Users cannot share poll posts, either.

Meta's Peter Cottle demoed at FediForum this week and said that Threads was addressing the issue. Despite the challenges, Meta has been adding Threads to the decentralized social network system for eight months after introducing the program.

This photograph, taken on March 7, 2024, in Nantes, shows the logo of US social media platform Threads, of US company Meta. (Photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)

"With our beta experience, Threads users aged 18+ with public profiles can now choose to enable sharing to the fediverse. If they do, they'll be able to publish posts on threads that will be viewable on other ActivityPub-compliant servers. Threads users will also be able to see aggregated like counts on their posts from other Fediverse servers directly from the Threads app. If people on other fediverse servers follow federated Threads profiles, they'll be able to see, reply to, and repost Threads posts (if their server allows it)," Meta stated in its blog.

After testing ActivityPub integration last year, Threads has entered the fediverse. According to Meta, Threads was always intended to be a decentralized social networking app in the fediverse, where federated networking allows users more control over their online identity and information, despite the platform.

In December, the business stated it was testing the functionality on Mastodon and other ActivityPub networks, according to TechCrunch. The tech company describes the fediverse as a "social network of interconnected servers" where people can "follow other people on different servers to see and interact with their content-similar to how email allows people to communicate regardless of the services they choose."

To enable the Fediverse functionality, go to Threads account settings, choose Fediverse sharing (Beta), and follow the steps.

Trending Now Joins Threads User-Friendly Features

This development follows Threads' announcement of a new feature, 'Trending Now,' which displays the most popular social media discussions. As TechTimes reported, Meta's Threads previously mentioned this feature, which enables users to browse trending material in the 'For You' stream.

Since its introduction less than a year ago, Threads has added new, user-friendly features to provide a top-tier social networking experience.

With this new Trending Now feature, Threads users may now follow popular topics and online discussions. However, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri indicated in the announcement of the new Threads offering that some US customers may not have access to the functionality yet.