Meta Math: Calculating How Many Non-Threads Fediverse Followers A Threads Account Has
If one stat is misleading about Threads, it is the follower count. Yes, seriously.
When you visit my Threads profile (@darnell@threads.net) within the iPhone app or on the web, Threads reports (as of this post) that I have 595 followers.
However, if I view my Threads account within my Mastodon account (which is @darnell@one.darnell.one), my follower stats boast a slightly more impressive 621 brave souls (as of this post).
Perplexed by this apparent discrepancy, I decided to view my Threads profile within my Flipboard account (which is @darnell@flipboard.com), & Flipboard confirmed that I also boasted 621 followers (as of this post).
Note: Viewing my Threads profile via my Misskey and Pixelfed accounts proved futile, as neither can accurately display the correct stats of Threads profiles.
If either Mastodon or Flipboard’s numbers were off, one would easily assume that there is an error with either platform. But the fact that they both are reporting the same number leads me to conclude that Threads is only reporting the total number of Threads users following a Threads profile. The extra 26 followers are accounts from the Fediverse (outside of Threads) following my account.
You can see the same discrepancy on larger accounts as well. Threads claims that @zuck@threads.net boasts 4.4 million followers.
However, within the Mastodon app, they claim Mark Zuckerberg has 4.5 million followers, which is off by a staggering 100,000 accounts.
Unlike Threads and the official Mastodon app, Flipboard displays the actual number of Zuckerberg’s followers instead of a rounded stat (note: Many third-party Mastodon apps also display the actual number instead of a rounded stat), which differs from Threads' stat by almost 150,000 users.
So What Does This Mean‽
Although Threads overall total numbers are impressive, it appears that only a tiny percentage of users are turning on ActivityPub & engaging with the wider Fediverse as a whole.
It would be great if Threads would follow Flipboard’s lead & provide stats for both fediverse followers & local followers on a profile.
We may need to revisit the top 10 Fediverse account rankings, as the current list on FediDB (by @dansup@mastodon.social) reveals that eight out of the top ten accounts are powered by Threads, when in reality Mark Zuckerberg would only make the top 30.
👨🏾💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day 📧 darnell@darnell.day
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