Will Instagram Threads actually integrate with fediverse (also known as the open social network), allowing its users to interact with users on other services like Mastodon and transfer their accounts to Meta if they feel that its policies no longer meet their preferences? Elsewhere? The answer remains vague today. Meta can't yet confirm if or when it will add the account portability feature to its roadmap and syndication plans for the new social network.

When reached for comment on the current status of Threads account portability efforts, a Meta spokesperson said those plans were a "top priority" but declined to provide details about the future roadmap.

Meta's decision not to prioritize account portability in the short term comes at a critical time for the tech giant. The company recently announced the end of its fact-checking program in favor of a crowdsourced community annotation feature similar to X, while relaxing its content moderation rules. According to a report by Platformer, the company also disabled a system that punished misinformation by lowering the ranking of content on the platform. The changes may prompt users to reevaluate their relationship with Meta and possibly consider relocating their accounts to other services - something Threads says it plans to eventually allow for.

At the same time, Generation Z users are tired of Meta's monopoly on social media. Instead of returning to Instagram Reels to prepare for the ban of TikTok in the United States, they collectively turn to another Chinese social network, RedNote (Little Red Book). ). As of this week, some 700,000 TikTok users have joined RedNote while joking on TikTok, which allows them to bid farewell to "Chinese spies."

Threads is intended to mark a new direction for Meta, one in which it no longer tries to compete with open social networks, but instead joins them. To date, however, there has been much discussion as to whether Meta's foray into the Federation Universe, an open social network powered by the ActivityPub protocol, is well-intentioned. Critics worry that Meta is simply controlling the future direction of the Federation universe by quickly establishing itself as the largest Federation client to dominate the open network.

Despite this, Meta continues to roll out many integrations with the Federation Universe on Threads, including the ability to cross-post to Mastodon and view responses from Mastodon users in Threads. It's also done a lot of the heavy lifting in the user education department, adding guides and explanations about the Federation universe in the Threads app and on the web.

However, one of the key components of becoming a federated application is the adoption of account portability. This means that if you don't like how the federated servers are handling it, you can use your account elsewhere without losing your followers, following, bookmarks, lists, etc.

In a December 2023 meeting between Meta representatives and fediverse community members, Meta shared some of the reasons that prompted its move to the fediverse, starting with users' concerns about the idea of ​​Meta effectively "owning" someone's followers. (While the meeting is not recorded, community members in attendance can share the content of the discussion as long as they do not directly quote or attribute statements from specific individuals from Meta.)

In attendee Tom Coates' summary of the meeting, he noted that Meta expressed a desire to integrate with the Federated Universe to help address user concerns about its social graph.

"They are looking for the ability to know that they can move somewhere else if need be," Coates wrote, but added, "It feels like that's not the whole story."

In light of Meta's massive policy changes regarding fact-checking and moderation, now seems like a good time to examine its federal agenda, given that there doesn't appear to be any sign that the company has begun working on this feature.

When asked about a roadmap update regarding account portability, a Meta spokesperson couldn't confirm whether the topic was on the Threads roadmap, let alone when it would be addressed.

Instead, they said account portability is "a top priority as we continue our federal diversity integration" and that there are "no further details on the roadmap or timing at this time."

While it's likely that Threads still intends to eventually add account portability functionality, it stands to reason that it's not a priority since, at least for now, the company's goal is to keep users using Threads. The social network has grown into the largest syndicated app (if fully syndicated), with monthly active users increasing to 300 million from 275 million in November. It also has 100 million daily active users.

This story was updated after publication and the correct number of TikTok users joining RedNote is 700,000, not 700 million.