cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/1185025
Meta can introduce their signature rage farming to the Fediverse. They don’t need to control Mastodon. All they have to do is introduce it in their app. Show every Threads user algorithmically filtered content from the Fediverse precisely tailored for maximum rage. When the rage inducing content came from Mastodon, the enraged Thread users will flood that Mastodon threads with the familiar rage-filled Facebook comment section vomit. This in turn will enrage Mastodon users, driving them to engage, at least in the short to mid term. All the while Meta sells ads in-between posts. And that’s how they rage farm the Fediverse without EEE-ing the technology. Meta can effectively EEE the userbase. The last E is something Meta may not intend but would likely happen. It consists of a subset of the Fediverse users leaving the network or segregating themselves in a small vomit-free bubble.
“Ragefarming” and “algorithmically filtering for rage” just means sorting by thread activity. Mastodon already does this.
Does it? Facebook can determine things like political leanings of people, as well as the likelyhood of particular content to trigger rage response. The result looks different for different people. Everyone’s feed is different and tailored for inducing response from them.
It is possible to have an active discussion in a civil tone. What they promote is conflict, that is not the same as activity.
Mastodon is a bubble. You have primarily highly educated, tech-literate nerds on that platform.
Obviously people are more civil and polite there, than some raging uneducated losers and trolls on facebook.
As the fediverse grows, the userbase will obviously lose this current isolated tech-wizard school vibe, and feel more like going into a random pub in a big city. Regardless if Meta joins the fediverse or not.