Threads to Become Fully Interoperable with Mastodon and Other Fediverse Platforms
Meta has announced that Threads will soon support full two-way integration with the Fediverse through the ActivityPub protocol. The move will allow Threads users to follow and interact with users on Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other decentralized social platforms.
What This Means for Users
Once the integration is complete, Threads users will be able to follow accounts on Mastodon and other Fediverse platforms directly from within Threads. Similarly, users on decentralized platforms will be able to follow, reply to, and share content from Threads users who opt into the feature.
This represents a significant shift in Meta’s approach to social networking, embracing interoperability over the walled-garden approach that has defined platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
How It Will Work
Threads users will see a new option in their settings to enable Fediverse sharing. Once enabled, their posts will be visible on any Fediverse platform, and they can be followed using standard ActivityPub addressing format (username@threads.net).
The integration will support:
- Following and followers across platforms
- Replies and conversations
- Reposts and quotes
- Likes and other reactions
- Content moderation that respects each platform’s rules
Privacy and Safety Considerations
Meta has emphasized that the Fediverse integration will be opt-in and that users will have granular control over their cross-platform presence. Users can choose to share all posts to the Fediverse, only public posts, or no posts at all.
Content moderation will remain a complex issue, as different Fediverse instances have different rules. Meta has stated that content that violates Threads’ community guidelines will not be shared to the Fediverse, regardless of whether it might be allowed on specific instances.
Industry Implications
The announcement has been met with mixed reactions from the Fediverse community. Some see it as validation of the decentralized social media model, while others express concern about a large corporation’s influence on the ecosystem.
Mastodon founder Eugen Rochko has cautiously welcomed the development, noting that ActivityPub was designed specifically to enable this kind of interoperability while allowing individual servers to make their own decisions about federation.
Timeline and Availability
Meta expects to roll out full Fediverse support in phases:
- Phase 1 (Current): Limited testing with select users
- Phase 2 (March 2026): Public beta for all users
- Phase 3 (Q2 2026): Full feature release
The company has also committed to contributing to ActivityPub specification development and sharing learnings from scaling the protocol to Threads’ user base.
The Bigger Picture
This move comes as regulators worldwide push for greater interoperability between social platforms. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act requires designated gatekeepers to enable interoperability, and Meta’s proactive approach may help position the company favorably with regulators.
For users, the integration promises a future where social media platforms are less siloed and where content can flow more freely between services while users maintain control over their data and experience.
