I don't think most instance owners will block them. The larger servers I've paid attention to don't plan to at this time, though many people have expressed concerns about it being an attempt by Meta to embrace, extend, and extinguish the Fediverse. A few people are very loud about not wanting a Meta presence and are trying to convince others to block them.
I think the opportunity outweighs the threat. There's a chance for Mastodon and others to show their software to a mainstream audience which has already shown a willingness to try out new social software by joining threads. Ideally, some projects will have a better pitch than just "we're not corporate".
I agree that it's a loud minority complaining about Threads but that loud minority is quite powerful in the Mastodon community.
I think the "embrace, extend, and extinguish" fear is hilarious. The Fediverse is tiny and useless to Meta. Threads as a really crappy Twitter clone is just launched and many times the size of the Fediverse. By federating, they're losing algorithmic control and monetization possibilities. Honestly, I think it's just a "do good" afterthought for the sake of PR.
Facebook has acquired smaller competitors in the past. Where it hasn't been able to acquire, it's federated: you might remember that Facebook used to federate with MySpace.
> I agree that it's a loud minority complaining about Threads but that loud minority is quite powerful in the Mastodon community.
That “loud minority” is largely composed of sociopolitical minorities. To the extent that they're powerful on the Fediverse, it's because the Fediverse is a place run by and for them.
I don't think most instance owners will block them. The larger servers I've paid attention to don't plan to at this time, though many people have expressed concerns about it being an attempt by Meta to embrace, extend, and extinguish the Fediverse. A few people are very loud about not wanting a Meta presence and are trying to convince others to block them.
I think the opportunity outweighs the threat. There's a chance for Mastodon and others to show their software to a mainstream audience which has already shown a willingness to try out new social software by joining threads. Ideally, some projects will have a better pitch than just "we're not corporate".