meta’s threads: day one

[solarbird]

I’m keeping an eye on Threads anonymously via the web UI, which offers partial views without a login. I’m also trying to get more information about how it works from people I know who have, however briefly, tried it.

At the end of day one, the hate brigade is definitely out in force and some harassment is definitely happening. It’s heavily restricted by the lack of search functionality, but people are finding and replying to Libs of TikTok, Jack Posobiec, the anti-LGBT stalking-horse “gays against groomers” fake-gays project run by the DeSantis campaign, the disinformation specialists PragerU, Tim Pool, fash propagandist Ian Chang, and so on. This is… a bad idea. But regardless, once they do that, they’re visible targets for harassment, people posting Hitler memes specifically as threats, and the like.

And that’s just what I can see with no account via a web browser! I can only assume it’s worse with full access.

This was, of course, going to happen, so the open question is what kind of pushback will they get from moderation teams. Early indications are … mixed. A fleet of complaints about “okay groomer” replies to LGBT people were dismissed as not violations, and that’s quite bad. At the same time, the fash are big mad that attempts to follow them bring up a big warning dialogue after a single day:

Dialogue text: Are you sure you want to follow [username redacted]? This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by independent fact-checkers or went against our Community Guidelines.

Meta moderation teams need to do better. I’d already pre-emptively set my Mastodon instance at “limit, no local media storage,” which blocks anything from them from public view and keeps all their shit off my server, while still allowing direct person-to-person follows and communication.

If they don’t improve, though, and if people on Threads have the ability to contact people off Threads directly via user tags – something I’ve heard directly conflicting information about, I’ve been told “no” but I’m trying to confirm – I will pre-emptively move my instance to full defederation, possibly within a few days, to stop the inevitable harassment waves in advance.

Also – and amusingly – I’ve seen one of them talking about how future versions of Threads will do federation with a screencap about the Fediverse, while bitching about “we know who really runs this place” and that’s… kind of hilarious, because wow, we most certainly do not. xD

It’s almost impressive how bad it feels to see all those fucks again. It’s genuinely The Worst of Twitter, Part II. But they may leave – they’re certainly talking about how much it sucks compared to the holy land of Elon Musk.

Anyway. I don’t recommend you do what I’m doing unless you’re ready for All The Bad Shit Back In Your Face. But me and the abyss, we’re old friends, best buds even. So as always, here I am, checking in, and summarising it so you don’t have to.

Posted via Solarbird{y|z|yz}, Collected.

Comments

[komadori]

Yikes, that does not sound promising...

[solarbird]

It's really not.

Just before it officially came out, I heard some stuff that gave me the impression that it was actually something different to just being a plan Twitter clone. And I'm kind of wondering if keep in the history of this what I saw from those first impressions was right - but as Elon made Twitter into Nazi Social, they veered into "let's just clone Twitter."

But also see the update I just posted.

[gorgeousgary]

According to an article in today's Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/05/threads-meta-instagram-twitter-alternative/), Threads has the same problem as most social media apps in that you get shown what its algorithms think you want to see, not what you choose to follow. Though the article claims a follower-only reading option is on the to-do list.

The article also claims users are permitted to limit replies to their threads to people that they follow or that they mention in the thread.

That being said, given how I keep forgetting about my Tumblr and barely I check my LinkedIn, I will for the moment continue to stick to DW, Discord and Tumblr.

[solarbird]

Yeah, I saw that. But I'm mostly interested in default status and notifications, in terms of why I'm digging for specifics of how things work.

Particularly when it comes to questions of defederation later.

[oh6]

In all sincerity, thanks for taking a look on others' behalf. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this and the "to-do" bit gorgeousgary mentioned are almost hilariously awful.

[solarbird]

It's astounding how being on a platform that doesn't have that bullshit and then looking at it again kind of... de-regularises it for you? It's a refresher about how just... determinedly... endlessly... pathetically stupid they all are.

(See in particular next post.)

[canyonwalker]

I wonder how much of the sewage is effectively a mass attack, kind of like a DDoS, by pro-what-Twitter-has-become fans looking to create a bad launch for its most credible competitor.

[solarbird]

Y'know, my first thought was no, but now - particularly in the light of the latest insanity (see next post), I'm thinking this idea has some merit.