The State of the Federation, with Mastodon's Eugen Rochko

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Dec 20, 2023

Mastodon's founder and CEO, Eugen Rochko, discusses Mastodon's epic year and the growth of the Fediverse. They explore the arrival of Meta and the benefits of Threads joining the Fediverse. They also discuss the adoption of Blue Sky and the future of open social networks. The chapter covers the rise and fall of XMPP, the importance of innovating user experiences, and funding in the Fediverse. They recognize Mastodon's achievements and express gratitude for a powerful online platform.

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INSIGHT

Meta's Entry: A Double-Edged Sword

Rochko has mixed feelings about Meta joining the Fediverse, acknowledging their problematic history.
However, he sees Threads' federation as a win, granting Mastodon users access to a vast user base.

INSIGHT

Built-in Precautions

Mastodon is designed with precautions against malicious actors due to its decentralized nature.
Users must be aware of the inherent risks of broadcasting publicly and not trust third parties.

ADVICE

Avoid Preemptive Blocking

Instance owners have the freedom to choose federation, but preemptively blocking Threads might be self-defeating.
Users may move to more reasonable instances or even join Threads to connect with its large user base.

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It’s been a momentous time for the Fediverse. New versions of Mammoth and Ivory launched. WordPress and Tumblr reaffirmed their commitment to integrating ActivityPub. And then both Threads and Flipboard rolled out their plans to federate.

What does this all mean for the Fediverse? How will moderation work as the Fediverse grows in leaps and bounds? Who will be next to federate?

Mastodon’s founder and CEO Eugen Rochko goes deep with Flipboard CEO Mike McCue for a sprawling conversation that looks back on Mastodon’s epic year, dissects the moment we’re in today, and ponders a future filled with big changes and new ideas.

More urgently, if you’re following what’s happening with Threads, it is essential listening for understanding Meta’s strategy and how the Fediverse is responding.

Highlights from this conversation include:

0:51 Looking back on Mastodon’s epic year
3:22 Small team, big goals
4:55 The arrival of Threads/Meta: pro or con?
9:01 The way Mastodon/Fediverse is architected to provide a better social media experience
11:24 The “big win” of Meta adopting an open standard
12:10 The game-changing paradigm shift in how social media works
17:30 Why Meta is committing to Threads — a significant moment for the social web
18:10 Mastodon community’s reaction to Threads’ entry
19:24 Preemptively building walls to block Threads: self-defeating?
21:10 Tools and advice for instance owners on interoperating with Threads
26:09 Gaining momentum: who will federate next?
28:34 Bluesky
30:00 ActivityPub: the beauty of a generic protocol
38:24 User experiences in the Fediverse
41:06 “Embrace, extend, extinguish” and the XMPP comparison
50:28 Funding Mastodon through Patreon donations
53:10 U.S. nonprofit version of Mastodon and grant applications
54:23 On outside contributions to Mastodon’s code base
57:42 Hopes and dreams for the future

💰Mastodon is a non-profit that runs on donations from the community. You can help Mastodon succeed by supporting the organization via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mastodon

🔎 You can follow Eugen on Mastodon at https://mastodon.social/@Gargron

✚ You can connect with Mike McCue on Mastodon at https://flipboard.social/@mike, or via his Flipboard federated account, where you can see what he’s curating on Flipboard in the Fediverse, at https://flipboard.social/@mike@flipboard.com

💡 To learn more about what Flipboard's doing in the fediverse, sign up here: https://about.flipboard.com/a-new-wave/