Darnell (Seize The Day)

👨🏾‍🚀 Darnell.bio 🤳🏾 @darnell@telegram.me 📹 @darnell@youtube.com

Fediverse icon featuring Flipboard, Mastodon, WordPress, Threads & Minds

As 2024 comes to a close, 2025 may finally be the year that the Fediverse reshapes the social media landscape by introducing billions of people to the idea of a decentralized web.

Approximately 130 different platforms are embracing ActivityPub, which includes 125 listed on Fediverse Party, & several others not yet listed like Ghost (whose updates from @index@activitypub.ghost.org are as hilarious as they are informative).

Within this diverse group of platforms, websites & social networks, five are positioned to obtain or maintain mainstream adoption amongst the masses. For better or worse, these sites in the future will represent the Fediverse to folks unfamiliar with the concept of decentralized social networks.

Minimum height in out space amusement park.

Making The Mark (Minimum Threshold)

Although this list is highly subjective, these platforms will, I believe, appeal to everyday people based on their past success and current availability to be accessed by billions of people worldwide.

Note: This does not mean that other platforms will never obtain success or mainstream adoption (including several of my favorite platforms that are not included), but it is hard to argue against the success of these five platforms.

Minimum requirements to be listed:

  • Must have a public presence on iPhone (betas do not count): As Twitter discovered years ago, lacking an official app results in people not engaging on your platform. While having an iPad app, Apple Watch app, & Mac App is a bonus, a native official app is key.
  • Must have a public presence on Android (betas do not count): For the above reasons, the ActivityPub platform must have a native Android app on Google Play. Being on Android tablets and smartwatches is an extra bonus, but being on mobile smartphones is important.
  • Must have an accessible web app: Being accessible via the web is also critical, as millions of people still enjoy accessing social networks via a computer, television, or tablet. Bonus points if it is a Progressive web app.
  • Must have over 100,000 Monthly Active Users: There are many impressive ActivityPub apps, some with hundreds of thousands or millions of accounts created on them. However, the success of an app is best measured by how many people stay & use the app (100,000 MAU signifies an active community
  • Must be fiscally viable: Whether it is through donations, premium subscriptions or manage hosting solutions, the app needs to be fiscally viable. This will encourage businesses, schools, governments & charities to adopt the platform & avoid the fear of it being abandoned later on due to developers lacking funds

Based on these five criteria, five Fediverse apps made the cut, & these apps are listed below, as well as a few suggestions on how they can improve themselves as the world enters 2025.

Mythical WordPress creature created by Grok, AI image

WordPress

Synopsis & Suggestions: Aside from a few suggestions like allowing users to follow ActivityPub handles within the WordPress app & receive pings on their main WordPress blog, I do not have any major suggestions for improving WordPress. WordPress has the potential to bring the Fediverse to billions of people, & could become the decentralized favorite among the masses.

Happy monster made of Threads with an infinity sign on it, AI image made by Grok

Threads

Synopsis & Suggestions: I thoroughly enjoy using Threads, my only major gripe is the lack of an iPad app (Android fans have a tablet app). Hopefully Threads introduces an iPad app in 2025, along with the option to pay to avoid seeing ads on their platform.

Dolphin swimming in the ocean with a t-shirt with F for Flipboard on it, AI image made with Grok

Flipboard

Synopsis & Suggestions: Flipboard is one of the most beautiful Fediverse apps available, & their app puts alternatives like Apple & Google News to shame. One useful suggestion would be the ability to manage premium news subscriptions through Flipboard, which would make it easier to stay informed with what is happening around the world as well as expose users to premium content. Also a dolphin 🐬 plushie would be nice too! 😃

Mastodon with purple sweater on while traveling through winter forest, AI image made with Grok

Mastodon

Synopsis & Suggestions: Mastodon has helped popularize the idea of a decentralized social network, & despite its size the platform punches well above its weight. There are also a plethora of hosting companies with 1-click Mastodon installs (something other ActivityPub platforms need to promote). The only major feature requests would be smart quote posting (similar to what Threads has) & the ability to post & view more than four images on a post.

Robot with yellow lightbulb on its head surrounded by protesters, AI image made with Grok

Minds

Synopsis & Suggestions: Minds is probably the most controversial platform featured here, as it is known for being a free speech zone where users can post content with little fear of being banned. My primary suggestions for Minds is to allow Minds Network users access their sites through the primary Minds app, as well as lower the cost of entry for Minds Networks (perhaps reduce the price to $10 per month but Minds takes a sizable chunk out subscription payments as a tradeoff).

People on Earth connected to each other via internet, AI image created in Grok

Conclusion

These five ActivityPub powered platforms alone have a potential reach of over 1.5 billion users/websites, & it would not be surprising if that number surpassed 2 billion by the end of the year.

However, in order for the Fediverse to surpass two or three billion users, ActivityPub opt-in networks like WordPress & Threads should heavily promote the Fediverse to their users, as many users are still unfamiliar with what decentralized social networking is & why they should use it.

If the number of actual ActivityPub users & websites crosses over a billion (not just potential reach but those actively on the Fediverse), we could witness other social networks joining the decentralized web revolution.

This would contribute towards the breaking down of barriers between not only websites, but cultures & regions as well.

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Monster made of threads holding up lightbulb.

So about a month ago, Threads decided to block Minds after the former could not detect the latter's public feed.

This obviously upset @mark@minds.com and @john@minds.com, who both issued statements regarding the domain block.

⚠️Threads.net has blocked us from federating with them. Can't say I'm surprised, but it does expose their federation push to be a charade. Same old facebook, censoring free speech!

#activitypub #federation #censorship #minds (Mark Harding on Minds)

Note: Mark is Minds's Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Threads has blocked Federation with Minds... FB and Instagram are a fail. So weak! (John on Minds)

Note: John is Co-founder of Minds.

After seeing their reactions, I commented on John's post to provide context for why Threads was blocking Minds and suggested they appeal.

Basically, all instances Threads connects to must have a publicly accessible feed. Pixelfed instances are muted for this reason (as they lack one). Misskey instances get domain blocked by Threads routinely for the same reason, but usually after contacting Meta the block is removed (as Threads has trouble automatically locating it).

Previously they blocked the flagship Mastodon & Misskey instances, but after many users (myself included) contacted them, they were able to resolve & remove the block (Mastodon Social was blocked for the same reason for what it is worth).

I suggest reaching out to them, as they will probably remove the block once they can identify a public feed for Minds. (@darnellclayton@minds.com on Minds)

Minds co-founder John later on replied that he would look into it, & it appears that my Minds account can once again federate with Threads again.

My Minds account can federate with my Threads account.

Meta maintains a public Threads block list, which lists reasons why specific sites on the Fediverse are blocked or defederated from Threads.

Most sites blocked by Threads are for legitimate reasons (illegal activity, promoting sexual assault content, etcetera). Many sites are also blocked because Threads can not automatically locate a public feed of the instance.

This seems to plague Misskey powered sites more than Mastodon powered sites, but either way if an instance owner finds their domain listed on Meta's bad list, they can appeal to have their site unblocked (just like Minds did).

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Glowing blue butterfly with wings on fire descending into the ocean

According to AppFigures, Bluesky is no longer within the top 200 apps for Google Play on Android & the App Store for iPhone in the United States 🇺🇸.

Even searching on my iPhone yielded zero results in the top rankings. After previously rocketing up to number one, Bluesky has seen a notable decline within Google Play & the App Store.

The decline could be seasonal, as people focus on the holidays more than politics. Still, we could witness a triumphant return next year when Donald Trump becomes @potus@threads.net, thus triggering another wave of exits from X.

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Glowing Blue Butterfly looking up at giant robots with Threads logo

After news of Donald Trump's impending victory was confirmed, people began abandoning X for more favorable pastures. Many of those folks ended up joining the Atmosphere on Bluesky in November.

Bluesky, an alternative social media platform to X — formerly known as Twitter — has experienced a large surge in users as Democrats, including a number of prominent figures on the left, announced their departure from the social media network owned by Elon Musk in the wake of the presidential election.

Nearly 1 million users have signed up for Bluesky each day over the past week as the social networking website thrives in the wake of a liberal exodus from X.

Many users either quitting X or deactivating their accounts cited a “toxic” or “disturbing” environment, in part blaming Musk's leadership and promotion of certain political stances. (The Hill)

Although their growth was initially explosive after the election, Bluesky's rise has slowed down as of late, as the site has plateaued according to the latest stats (props to colesantiago on Hacker News for locating this link).

According to MUNIN stats, Bluesky is averaging around 14 million monthly active users, with about three million of those being active daily users.

Bluesky stats from MUNIN show social network is plateauing

Compare & contrast that with Threads, whose monthly & daily stats are 21 & 33 times larger, respectively.

Threads strong momentum continues — now 300M+ monthly actives and 100M+ daily actives 💪 (via @zuck@threads.net on Threads

Threads now has 300M monthly actives and 100M daily actives. A big thank you to this rapidly growing community — we're making something special together, and we'll focus on making it even better next year. (via @mosseri@threads.net on Threads)

A little over a month ago, Bluesky rocketed to first place in the App Store (in the United States 🇺🇸) according to AppFigures.

A month later, Bluesky has surprisingly fallen out of the top 100 app downloads for iPhone (Bluesky is listed as 148 according to AppFigures), & is not even listed in the top 200 apps for Android devices.

AppFigures lists Bluesky app at 148th in App Store

Meanwhile, Threads (in the United States 🇺🇸) has maintained its place within the top ten in the App Store (currently in fourth place as of this post) and Android (in 10th place on Google Play), respectively.

AppFigures lists Threads in fourth place in the App Store

AppFigures lists Threads in 10th place on Google Play for Android

Note: X surprisingly has maintained its presence within the top 100 apps (they previously were not even listed), having secured the 46th spot on the App Store & the 66th spot in Google's Play Store for Android, respectively.

AppFigures ranks X in 46th place on the App Store

AppFigures ranks X in 66th place on the Google Play store for Android

What Can Bluesky Do To Challenge Threads & X‽

Blue Butterfly with lightening challenging two giant robots

Bluesky lacks the financial resources to compete against Threads or X, as both behemoths are backed by billions of dollars.

However, Bluesky seems to be carving a niche within progressive circles, & the site should actively court politicians, athletes, influential artists & businesses dissatisfied with X & Meta.

Since Bluesky lacks Threads ties to Trump or X's enthusiastic support for the once & future President, the blue butterfly 🦋 should flex its wings on Inauguration Day (January 20th, 2025) to those who desire an alternative social network to call home.

Blue butterfly with lightening being awed at by the people

Last but not least, Bluesky needs to figure out a way to quickly embrace true decentralization, as the reports of them being decentralized are not accurate.

Note: Bluesky would be wise to convince more prominent players like @wordpressdotcom@threads.net, @ghost@threads.net & @flipboard@flipboard.social to integrate Atmosphere within their respective platforms before @threads@threads.net & @flipboard@threads.net fully embrace ActivityPub for their massive user bases.

Once the latter two fully embrace the Fediverse (ActivityPub style), hundreds of millions of users will ignore the Atmosphere altogether, reducing Bluesky to a singular decentralized node.

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Aethy banner featuring a lighthouse

Image Credit: Banner from Aethy

Known for its Not Safe For Work (NSFW) content, Aethy has avoided the dreaded shutdown fever that has affected other instances like Mozilla Social & Moth Social (the latter which also took down the Mammoth app & their Fediverse subscription service).

Earlier reports of Aethy's uncertain future was leaving fans of the site demoralized, although it appears that the site has found a new lease on life after locating a new owner to run the instance.

A NEW OWNER FOR AETHY HAS BEEN FOUND! 🎉

The vibes are flawless, and the agreement has been signed!

Over the next week we will be transferring all necessary services (domain, server, mail etc) to the new owner.

Once all that's been done, the Big Official announcement will be made.

There will also be NO restriction on LSC due to the new owner's local laws not criminalizing fictional works 🥳

EDIT: Our rules on realistic 3D will remain; by no restrictions we mean within our current rules. (Punkbot on Aethy)

It is still unclear who the new owners are, although @punkbot@aethy.com will probably reveal that after the holidays. Regarding expenses, Aethy's were more or less typical for a hyperactive ActivityPub instance.

Here's the cost breakdown for running Aethy:

  • Server hosting: $72 per month
  • Domain name: $14.76 per year
  • Email: $48 per year
  • Storage: ~$30 per month
  • Translation Services: ~$40 per month
  • CDN: $280 per year
  • PO Box (DMCA Requirement): $166 per year (About Aethy, Financials)

Aethy is the Flagship instance of Ruffy, the latter which is a fork of Mastodon.

Ruffy Icon

Image Credit: Ruffy icon from Ruffy.

For those wondering what distinguishes Ruffy from Mastodon, their Patreon page sums up the differences between the Fediverse platforms.

Support the development of the open source fork of Mastodon, Ruffy! Ruffy is an open source project allowing people to create their own federated social network. Each social network is capable of talking to one another in order to create a network of community websites. Ruffy is a fork with a focus on improvements to the interface which allow for more of a focus on blog-style and art content. With features that allow for longer posts, more image uploads, and better readability, Ruffy is perfect for social networks focused on creative content! (Ruffy on Patreon)

Although @Ruffy@aethy.com is not as popular as other Mastodon forks, they appear to have struck gold by powering Aethy, the latter of which is a top 20 Fediverse instance according to Fediverse Observer (**note: ** @fediverseobserver@fediverse.one tracks the user activity of most Fediverse platforms, even controversial ones).

Also, since Ruffy is a fork of Mastodon, users can log into the site via a standard Mastodon mobile app.

Why Does An NSFW ActivityPub Instance Survival Even Matter‽

Many people probably do not care about Aethy's survival, and more Fediverse users than not would celebrate its demise based on its content.

However, the fact that a platform whose funding options are more limited (as it is advertiser-unfriendly and folks may shy away from publicly supporting Aethy) was able to obtain the resources to stay online should encourage safe work sites struggling financially in these turbulent times.

Hopefully, we will witness more members of instances contributing towards their favorite Fediverse community, as it will help the Fediverse avoid the fate of email providers (in which the masses gravitate towards a few strong players).

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AI Grok Image of Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi merging as Gundam

Three distinguished car manufacturers are considering merging to improve their overall standing in the global automotive industry.

According to press reports Wednesday morning, the two Japanese carmakers are in discussions to consolidate under a holding company. The reports also said that Mitsubishi Motors, which has been working closely with Nissan since 2016, might join the grouping.

Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi confirmed the reports in nearly identically worded statements released later in the day. The three said they are considering a number of options including the plan mentioned in the press reports. (Japan Times)

According to @thejapantimes@mastodon.social, nothing official has been decided yet between Nissan, Honda & Mitsubishi, although I do not expect them to merge due to their distinct cultural differences.

While it would be cool to see them merge as one (note: what would they call the newly formed company‽), I expect we will witness a greater collaboration between the three, with each trying to complement the others' weaknesses with their respective strengths.

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Bluesky icon

After becoming the media darling weeks ago due to frustrations with X (formally Twitter) & news throttling on Threads (by Meta & Instagram), I have noticed that app downloads for the Bluesky app have been steadily declining after previously securing the top spot in-app charts.

Five days ago, I mentioned on @darnell@one.darnell.one how Threads had regained the top spot on Apple's App Store, while Bluesky had fallen to 18th place. After checking the app rankings on Apple's App Store & Google Play (for Android), it appears that Bluesky has fallen further down the charts while Threads has only taken a slight decrease on both app stores.

Threads Rankings on iPhone & Mobile Android (United States 🇺🇸)

Threads ranking on iPhone

Threads rankings on Google Play

Bluesky Rankings on iPhone & Mobile Android (United States 🇺🇸)

Bluesky Rankings on Apple’s App Store

Blue sky’s rankings on Google Play

Why Is Attention Towards Bluesky Cooling Down‽

My theory as to why Bluesky is starting to drop off is due to a simple factor: most people are unfortunately not interested in politics & news. This is what ultimately kept Twitter from becoming the “pulse of the planet,” & we are witnessing something similar with Bluesky.

While the app will no doubt remain hyperactive amongst the media elites, the masses will probably continue to flock towards Threads (who I believe is throttling political content for business reasons), the latter which will probably surpass X in 2025.

Ironically, X is also seeing a surge of downloads, as the app was embarrassingly not even in the top 200 over a week ago (I assume downloads are increasing due to what is happening in Syria 🇸🇾 right now).

X App Store rankings

Note: X was not prominent enough to make it to Google's top 45 apps, so I am using stats from App Figures, which shows slightly different rankings for Threads, Bluesky & X on Android (United States 🇺🇸).

Threads rankings on App Figures

Bluesky Rankings on App Figures

X Rankings on App Figures

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Youtube Icon

The Search Engine giant is laughing all the way to the bank after the nation down under passed legislation that will take down Google's rivals.

Australian lawmakers on Thursday approved a landmark ban on social media for children under 16 in some of the world's toughest such controls.

The ban, which aims to address the impact of excessive social media use on children's physical and mental health, affects social media platforms including X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and Reddit, but not YouTube.

The platforms, which bear sole responsibility for enforcement, have one year to figure out how to implement the age limit, which is the highest set by any country. If there are systemic failures to keep children from having accounts, the platforms are liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million). (NBC News)

If you are trying to figure out how YouTube was able to escape the ban despite failing to stem the tide against spammer, scammers & trolls, the answer is simple: kids.

An advocacy group that pushed for children and teens under 16 to be banned from social media has supported YouTube being given an exemption, but warns there is still a risk of kids being able to create accounts on the video site. [...]

That's because the government has excluded “messaging apps,” “online gaming services” and “services with the primary purpose of supporting the health and education of end-users” from the ban. [...]

Director of the 36 Months campaign Greg Atwells backed the exemption, telling the ABC the goal was never to stop young people from communicating or accessing educational tools and entertainment online, but rather to protect them from addictive algorithms and online bullying.

“Using YouTube for entertainment and educational purposes I think is fair enough … it's where people pretty much learn how to do things, I learnt to change the oil in my car,” he said. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

So Google is thrown a legal lifeline while everyone else is forced to drown. I would not be surprised if rivals sued over this exclusion. However, I suspect they will attempt to rebrand themselves as providing educational videos to the masses, which would probably allow them to escape the wrath of this law.

While protecting kids is important, this law will be extremely difficult to enforce without some sort of identification feature. The Australian government will have to grant social networks the legal right to obtain user identification information, making social networks prime targets for hackers.

I suspect we will witness some pushback from tech companies over this law before they realize that having access to their users' legal documents will benefit their real customers—advertisers.

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Samsung Icon and Logo

On a recent episode of Cold Fusion, I came across a video about Samsung & I was shocked to learn that the tech company is responsible for over 20% of South Korea's 🇰🇷 Gross Domestic Product (or GDP).

In 2022, the revenue of Samsung Group-affiliated companies accounted for about 22.4 percent of South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP). These affiliates generated total revenue of around 486.4 trillion South Korean won that year, having first surpassed the 400-trillion mark the previous year. Samsung's share of revenue in GDP remained constant at around 20 percent during the surveyed period. [...]

Samsung owns about 60 affiliates that are among the leading companies in their respective industries. For example, Samsung Electronics – best known for its Galaxy smartphones – is a global player in consumer electronics and telecommunications. Samsung Heavy Industries is one of the three leading companies in the domestic shipbuilding industry, while Samsung Group's affiliated financial companies, such as Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Life Insurance, have a strong influence on the South Korean financial market. [...]

Samsung is the biggest chaebol group in South Korea — a large family-run conglomerate owned and managed by an individual or their family members. Chaebol groups typically have numerous affiliates, operate in multiple and diverse business sectors, and usually maintain a monopoly position in the relevant market. (Statista)

As mentioned in the video above, Samsung's dominance in South Korea 🇰🇷 is so influential that the ruling corporate family can allegedly receive reduced criminal sentences as they are considered too important to jail (note: I honestly hope this is not true, but history in America 🇺🇸 is rife with examples).

Although Samsung's dominance in South Korea 🇰🇷 is undisputed, its presence on the world stage is not, as the South Asian tech giant is facing increased competition from smaller rivals who are more nimble and arguably more innovative than the tech titan.

While every conglomerate on earth envies Samsung's dominance within its respective home country, allowing Samsung to reign unchallenged creates a very dangerous situation for South Korea 🇰🇷.

If Samsung ever faced financial hardship across multiple industries (unlikely but not impossible), the South Korean 🇰🇷 nation would enter a recession, as Samsung's fall would pull down the rest of the country.

Despite past threats by the government, it is unlikely that South Korea 🇰🇷 will break up Samsung. However, South Korea 🇰🇷 needs to figure out how to nurture strong alternatives to Samsung, & (most importantly) prevent them from being absorbed by another local conglomerate (which is easier said than done).

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day 📧 darnell@darnell.day

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Flipboard logo in blue sky

It is no open secret that Threads (owned by Meta) has throttled political posts for business reasons. Despite the hate from political pundits, Meta's strategy of minimizing political content is working as Threads seems to be growing at a healthy clip.

Threads now has almost 275M monthly actives and more than 1M daily sign-ups 🔥 (via @zuck@threads.net on Threads

With a million daily signups, Threads might surpass X (formally Twitter) despite throttling political content.

As a replacement for Twitter, Threads needs to facilitate all types of trending discussions, and restricting the reach and presence of certain topics seems to run counter to this. Though even then, 275 million is significant, and if it can maintain its current growth rate of a million more sign-ups per day (also noted by Zuckerberg in today's earning call), that would mean that Threads will be on track to challenge X's monthly active user count by around June next year. (via @mattnavarra@threads.net on Social Media Today)

Some political pundits have advocated abandoning the largest ActivityPub platform for either established centralized platforms (like YouTube) or embracing rival decentralized protocols (like BlueSky via AT Protocol or Nostr).

However, instead of abandoning a mainstream platform, here are six reasons why it would be wiser for political pundits to embrace Flipboard instead—all the while courting Threads on the side.

Flipboard Topics

Image Credit: Flipboard

Politics Is Celebrated On Flipboard

Unlike Threads, Flipboard celebrates politics. The platform hosts numerous political discussions, including heated debates on who should be the next President of the United States 🇺🇸 (among other political content).

Here is a sample of some of the political content I see on Flipboard from my account on both the web and within the app.

Flipboard screenshot on the web

Flipboard content from within the iPad app

Flipboard does not shy away from political content; it treats it like any other information on its site. This means that political pundits do not have to fear being throttled by an AI algorithm for embracing a political view.

Flipboard Content Sharing Across America

Image Credit: Flipboard

Large Community

Although Flipboard is not growing as fast as Threads, they are still a heavyweight within the Fediverse.

One thing that I've heard time and time again is that partners are looking for ways to diversify their referral traffic sources, to be less dependent on the duopoly of Google and Facebook. With 145 million monthly active users globally, Flipboard doesn't match the size of the largest social platforms, but we help move the needle because people come to Flipboard to catch up on the things they are most interested in. (Flipboard)

If there is one thing political pundits care about, it is audience size. They aim to influence the masses in a particular direction, which is much harder to do on an emerging niche platform than on an established player.

While this might make Flipboard a superior option over smaller platforms, Flipboard has another advantage that makes it more appealing than more prominent centralized players.

Fediverse Icon

Fediverse Friendly

Even though Flipboard has a Mastodon instance (Flipboard.social), the company is embracing the Fediverse on Flipboard.com itself.

Unlike Threads, which made Fediverse sharing opt-in, Flipboard decided to make Fediverse sharing opt-out, allowing people will be able to follow political pundits from other platforms—including (in the future) Threads.

This means pundits will not have to beg people to activate ActivityPub on their accounts as they will be on by default.

Note: Flipboard is still beta testing Fediverse integration, although you can request early access by contacting the company here.

Flipboard iPad App

Image Credit: Flipboard on Apple App Store

An Actual iPad App

People have been begging Meta for many months to release a native iPad app for Threads, but despite our pleas, the company decided to create a Progressive Web App instead.

On the other hand, Flipboard boasts a beautiful iPad app that it has supported for years.

You can download the iPad app on the App Store, but if you prefer visiting Flipboard on the web, that option is also available on Flipboard.com.

Really Simple Syndication Icon

RSS For The Win

Meta has avoided adding Really Simply Syndication or RSS feeds to its various social platforms, including Threads, for unknown reasons.

On the other hand, Flipboard boasts RSS feeds, allowing users to creatively share their content on different platforms, blogs, or social networks.

For example, I use Fedica to automatically post interesting articles I share on Flipboard to my Mastodon account (@darnell@one.darnell.one) & my Threads account (@darnell@threads.net).

Whenever I share content from Flipboard via @FedicaHQ@m.fedica.com, I tag my Fediverse-enabled Flipboard handle (@darnell@flipboard.com). This allows accounts with ActivityPub enabled to follow my adventures from their preferred platform.

Political pundits would be wise to do the same, as it would allow them to take advantage of Threads' platform (despite the throttling) and leverage Flipboard's community for a total combined reach of 420 million active users.

PC Magazine highlighting Flipboard Magazines

Image Credit: PC Magazine

Curation Sensation

Last but not least, Flipboard allows users to curate posts via Magazines, a feature I have yet to see eloquently replicated on any other social platform.

Public Magazines are a great way to build a presence on Flipboard. When you create a Magazine, others can follow it and, as you add more stories to the Magazine, your followers will see your recommendations in their For You feed. Additionally, when you add stories to your Magazine, it acts as a signal to the Flipboard ecosystem and increases the opportunity for your recommended content to be discovered by others. Therefore, when you curate a public Magazine not only do you and your Flipboard followers benefit, but you'll be improving the experience for everyone. [...]

Whether your interests lie in gardening, cryptocurrency, or anything in between, you can use Flipboard to collect and organize stories for yourself or for others. The beautiful layout and easy access makes Magazines fun to create and a powerful tool for sharing ideas and collaborating. (Inside Flipboard)

Pundits can use the power of Flipboard magazines to curate posts that better address their follower's interests. Instead of just a firehose of political information, pundits can create magazines based upon certain politicians, regional politics, issues, etcetera, which will help users sift the signal through the noise.

As a bonus, these magazines are federated so that users can follow your specific magazines from ActivityPub-enabled accounts. For example, my Flipboard followers can choose to follow everything on my main Flipboard account, or they can follow my specific magazines:

This feature is unique to Flipboard (at least within the Fediverse), & pundits may find Flipboard magazines more appealing than current alternatives.

Threads.net logo (a Meta product)

Use Flipboard & Threads‽

For better or worse, Threads will not disappear anytime soon, despite the platform's preference of avoiding politics.

Instead of embracing another platform on another protocol and hoping followers will jump ship, pundits could simply open a Flipboard account, share their content with Threads (their current community), and expand their reach on a new platform within the Fediverse.

This would reduce follower friction. When (not if) Threads allows users to follow ActivityPub accounts on other domains, Pundits will reap the benefits of both platforms (as well as hundreds of others within the Fediverse).

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day 📧 darnell@darnell.day

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