Meta Is Blocking Links to Decentralized Instagram Competitor Pixelfed

Funny thing, Pixelfed isn't even a competitor to Instagram in the very very strictest sense.

Pixelfed is a federated service for posting photos.

Instagram started out as a service for posting photos, but it has become this... thing. I don't even know anymore.

You don't even see photos anymore. It is 99% videos at this point.
- And the 1% is adverts?
Instagram started out as a camera filter app. Then you could post pictures. When I first downloaded it to my iPhone 3 it was only a filter. I was very confused when I tried it again on android years later.
but it has become this... thing.

It's very appropriate to call Instagram now.... a thing. The site just became something to post bragadacious, fake rich lifestyle photos, people wanting to become meme themselves, or scantily clad girls looking for attention for themselves if not for their OnlyFans.
- bragadacious. I learneded a new english today.
  
  Err I mean. Obviously I already knew the word and it's meaning, and even how to say it. I know a lot of words. People always comment on how many words I know. Im just really smart, to be honest.
- I find it useful for finding local events where I live, updates from local businesses and newspapers.. it's also cool for following artists or bands I care about.
  
  Idk, it's in a weird space between facebook, what twitter used to be and tiktok. It can be useful if you curate your feed right 🤷‍♂️
A misinformation-peddling service for the oligarchy?

Owned by someone almost no one likes, shoves 1000s of ads down your throat, can't even look at something someone else sent you because you don't have an account. Why are people leaving???

Not, it isn't. It was most likely a spam filter. Images and longer messages work fine.

Funny how it was outrageous when Musk did it, and now it’s already common and accepted…

I'm old enough to remember Nintendo suing GameGenie for making the test codes on their games more broadly accessible. And Apple suing indie firms that made 3rd party peripherals for their devices. Don't forget Microsoft's unholy war on Netscape Navigator, as they deliberately tried to sabotage the popular third party web browser from working via various Microsoft updates. Hell, I think you can find case law in the 1920s on Ford Motor Company fighting spare parts manufacturers and trying to box them out of the industry. Corporate dinosaurs fighting to keep startups from interfacing with their products is a tale as old as time.

Historically, Facebook/Google/Twitter/et al were focused on integrating with common systems, because they were the underdogs struggling against firms like Microsoft and Comcast who were trying to maintain their Walled Garden. Now they're kings of the hill, pushing competition off their doorstep.

Its sleazy and toxic and ultimately bad for the industry as a whole. But its nothing new.
- Yea, antitrust is nothing new, I agree
  
  But musk was first banning specific URLs from being posted on a social network for other reasons than security or piracy.
  
  And as a note, it seems that facebook after all only had a bad spam protection automation rather than malicious intent 🤔
- Microsoft’s
  
  I would have sworn you wrote McDonalds the first time, and I was like wtf went on there that I had no idea about, until you got to the 2nd Microsoft.

I haven't heard of PixelFed, but thanks for informing me and I shall go!

App came out and looking super solid <333

Zucky is feeling insecure.

I'd say provide links (maybe in an escape hub page) for all the Meta main service pages, to assert dominance.

If you want to be nasty, track how often those links have been clicked. (Meta can't win. If it's too low, it shows nobody wants to go there. If it's too high, it means people are using the page as a Meta hub.)

We are in the then they fight you stage.

I"ve been on Pixelfed for three days and, sadly, it's pretty underwhelming.

I'm going to give it a few weeks though and build up a feed.

Lemmy was pretty sparse on posts not that long ago. Time can help.
- Old enough to remember when you could get to the "end of Twitter", because you'd swiped through all the active posts of the day.
- Was?
Remember, there is no algorithm pushing people towards you, look around, follow people, and see who they follow.
- My problem with decentralised social Media currently is that it's entirely unencrypted and publically viewable.
  
  I don't mind so much on services like Lemmy where it's a bit of fun to make comments and post random things without it being directly linked to your identity (though I am aware the content is still likely being scraped by someone somewhere).
  
  I'd really love a Facebook/Instagram replacement, but end-to-end encrypted where only the people you've given permission to can view your content.
  
  No idea how this would be achieved, but PixelFed is pretty useless unless you're posting publically.
Follow hashtags for things you're interested in too.
Yeah sadly there's not much people on there.
Try MetaPixl

Meta says it was a mistake

Absent present context, that sentence suggests a degree and quality of corporate self-awareness that one can only dream of.

This is why we gotta ban TikTok!!!! \s

What would the EU think of this?

Lemmy.world too. At least in admin chat.

When?
- Last week. Was is admin chat talking about moving a group to lemmy. And FB deleted admin chat posts containing links to lemmy.world.

Oof looks like they're down for the count on top of it

If you’re running an instance why not just cut the shit and block Meta?

Of course they are

I don't get why people rush to the next replica platform that will go down the exact same path of overstimulating you / mentally harming you.

Just delete Instagram.

Don't replace it.

One advantage of Pixelfed is that it not a commercial company. So unlike Instagram, they do not have financial motivation to addict and exploit. So for people who are interested in seeing and sharing picture galleries, that seems like a good option to me.

(Personally I don't use Instagram or Pixelfed, or any other similar service.)
- Lemmy FTW
I deleted instagram. I held on to Facebook for 2 reasons. One, marketplace has taken over as the only viable local resell platform. And Two, it's the only platform I can use to share my music locally and vastly. I want my friends, family, and neighbors to hear my music and other than handing out a card with QR code to my Spotify, then I kind of stuck.
- I refuse to use Facebook even for Marketplace. I still have pretty good luck with Craigslist.
- Just don't use marketplace for apartment and house hunting. It's filled to the brim with scammers.
I don’t get why people rush to the next replica platform that will go down the exact same path of overstimulating you / mentally harming you.

I think they get used to the level of stimulation and now feel "wrong" without it. It takes a certain self-awareness to realize that it would be healthier to recalibrate your expectations. (I don't think Pixelfed is a comparatively harmful platform at the moment anyway, although I suppose it could someday become one.)

lmao! Trashy Zuck!

Private company doesn't allow promotion of competing product? That is just good business? No surprises here.

A platform that prevents you from posting links on such a petty basis should not exist. Does McDonalds boot you out of their restaurants if you mention you prefer Burger King?
@AlternateRoute

@blind3rdeye

The issue is at the same time as making editorial and commercial decisions about what context is shown to people they rely on legal protections based on the fact they are a common carrier rather than having a degree of editorial control.