I’ve been hearing that Meta (Facebook) intends to join the fediverse. I have some very big concerns about that, as do apparently many others. There exists a group of instances called the fedipact which will not be federating with Meta, and I was wondering if this instance would be joining. So there is no ambiguity with this post: I have no desire to participate in any instance that is federated with Facebook, and will kindly pass on another Eternal September. Hope that doesn’t come off as aggressive, that’s just where I’m at.
I don’t really understand why anyone would not federate with Meta…what is the issue? Can they gather any information they couldn’t otherwise?
Yes - besides making collection of public data easier, it breaks down the walls of DM’s allowing meta and non-meta users to DM each other without friction, meaning most non-meta users won’t even notice that they’re starting to send their private data to meta. Additionally, that lack of friction allows them to collect data on who you follow from their server and who on their server follows you, including the content of those public exchanges along with the private info they have on the users on their side, which they can then pull in with your public data to make a great profile on you they will be happy to sell to the highest bidder even if the buyer is, purely hypothetically, a white supremacist cult hell bent on your death.