cross-posted from: https://feddit.nl/post/16834299
Meta releases Threads API for developers to build “unique integrations”
That’s not what ‘extend’ in EEE means. That would be if they started unilateraly extending the activitypub protocol itself.
I can see your point. I might have to change my headline.
The „unique“ extensions do have a certain ring to it though. Imagine, you make a mastodon fork with your trillion dollar marketing machine and motivate people to make plugins and extensions for it - not mastodon or the ap protocol. Isnt this just an extension of the extension then?
If people want to use this plugin, they have to use threads…
The full quote adds some important context to what they meant by “unique”.
Today at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, we announced that the Threads API is now available to all developers. We believe it will enable creators, developers and brands to build their own unique integrations, manage their Threads presence at scale, and easily share inspiring content with their communities.
These “unique integrations” aren’t features or plugins exclusive to Threads in comparison to the larger fediverse, they’re the types of features that would be unique to the applications developers who use the API will create, but aren’t available in the default Threads app. For example, one app’s “unique” feature might be collating data on interactions with your posts (like to track brand growth), while another’s might be built for scheduled or automated posting (like a streamer who sends out automatic Tweets when they go live on Twitch).
These sorts of things are all available currently through Mastodon’s API, Threads is playing catch-up here.
Ok thanks for adding context
Oh nooo, who could have seen that coming :o The dumbasses that were opposed to fedipact probably still wont believe it.
Proud signee of the fedipact here. :)
They’re literally just releasing an API.
“People can now publish posts via the API, fetch their own content, and leverage our reply management capabilities to set reply and quote controls, retrieve replies to their posts, hide, unhide or respond to specific replies,” explains Jesse Chen, director of engineering at Threads.
Developers can potentially even use this to make 3rd party apps.
You are correct sir or ma’am
On the other hand, there is this:
Meta has been testing the Threads API with a small number of developers: Grabyo, Hootsuite, Social News Desk, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, and Techmeme. These test integrations have allowed sites like Techmeme to automate posting to Threads, or Sprout and Hootsuite customers to feed Threads posts into the social media management platform.
We’re now waiting to see if developers will be able to easily build a third-party Threads app with this new API that’s not connected to a social media management platform. The existing fediverse beta could help with that, allowing Threads users to access posts through Mastodon clients and share content to Mastodon servers. The current beta of the fediverse integration doesn’t let users view replies and follows from the fediverse though
Up until this exact story, I was of the opinion that “honestly what’s the big deal, like what can they really do.”
After reading that hooking Threads into the spam-engines that so thoroughly fucked up Facebook was a big priority, but letting Threads people read Fediverse replies is still on the we’ll-get-to-it list, I am for the first time of the opinion “Oh. I see. You guys were right. Everyone needs to steer pretty clear of this.”
I’m having a hard time replying to this without sounding like a shill for them, but fediverse integration is still in beta. Full fediverse integration is under active development, and that takes time. Flipboard is also working on fediverse integration, and it’s taking an equally long time to get up and running. The API is undoubtedly being developed by a separate team, and is also probably a significantly easier task to tackle.
I also wouldn’t say access to an API is what destroyed Facebook either though.
I get that, but in what world do you release a feature incomplete beta for a messaging platform integration where the “reading other people’s messages” part is one of the features you’re waiting until later in the cycle to develop?
And I’m not saying API access killed Facebook, I’m saying bot-scheduled inorganic content coming in a flood into everyone’s feed even though literally 0 people want it there is what killed Facebook. And that by specifically calling out that stuff as what they want to bring to Threads (above and ahead of reading the Mastodon people’s messages), they’re showing that their priorities are so toxic that no good can come of interacting with them. It’s the types of posting they want to create that is the problem, not the API that let those postings come into existence.
It’s a public beta, so by the nature of things it’s going to be incomplete. Flipboard is doing the same thing with one-way federation and only federating certain profiles during the test period.
They also didn’t say they want bot-scheduled inorganic content coming in a flood into everyone’s feed though, they said they’re releasing an API. An API could be used by a developer with ill-intentions to automate spam posting, but the alternative is to not have an API and never support third-party apps.
Meta has been testing the Threads API with a small number of developers: Grabyo, Hootsuite, Social News Desk, Sprinklr, Sprout Social, and Techmeme
I think we’re gonna have to agree to disagree on what they’re saying they want
