Meta's text-based conversation app, Threads, is starting a test where posts from accounts on the platform will be available on Mastodon and other services that use the ActivityPub decentralised social networking protocol, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on December 13.
This move comes as the company looks to deliver on its promise to make the social network interoperable.
"Making Threads interoperable will give people more choice over how they interact and it will help content reach more people. I'm pretty optimistic about this" Zuckerberg said in a post on Threads. However, he didn't disclose any further details on how this test would work.
In a separate post, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that they are starting with the ability to follow Threads users from ActivityPub clients but will soon add the ability to follow accounts from ActivityPub servers on Threads as well.
ActivityPub is an open social networking protocol established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that powers services such as Mastodon (social networking), Pixelfed (photo sharing), and PeerTube (video sharing) among others.
Over the past few months, several platforms and services have added or announced support for ActivityPub including WordPress, Tumblr, Flipboard, Medium, and Firefox maker Mozilla.
Moneycontrol was first to report on Meta considering making Threads, then codenamed P92, compatible with ActivityPub in March 2023. However, Threads didn't have ActivityPub support when it launched in July.
"We're committed to building support for ActivityPub, the protocol behind Mastodon, into this app. 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" Mosseri said in a post at the time.
In August, Meta rolled out the ability for users to verify their Threads profile on Mastodon, indicating that they own the mentioned profile.
With this feature, Threads will be Meta's first app that will be compatible with rival services, enabling users to interact with a broader community beyond the app's existing user base as well as have the option to transfer their content to another service in the future.
"Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks" the company said in a blogpost at the time of launch.
This feature comes at a time when Threads and several other services such as Mastodon and Bluesky are aiming to capitalise on the rising trend of users on X looking to migrate to alternative platforms as the social media platform struggles to cope with the chaos caused under the owner Elon Musk.
Several users have been frustrated by various product and policy changes brought by the tech billionaire to reshape the platform in pursuit of becoming an "everything app".
Zuckerberg recently said that Threads has "just under" 100 million monthly active users and he expects the app to become the next billion-user social network in its suite of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
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