Opening your Threads account on the fediverse is as easy as clicking

It seems the fediverse continues to open up. In late March, Meta's Threads introduced a beta feature that allows users in the US, Canada, or Japan to post and view “likes” from Mastodon and, presumably, other federated social networks. In June, it added that capability to More than 100 countries.

If you want to do it the long way, you can still do it from the mobile app or the web version:

Look for the “Share Fediverse” option in your Settings.

Screenshot: Meta

Once you select Share on FediverseYou’ll likely go through a series of explanatory screens telling you what the fediverse is and how sharing works (you’ll need a public profile) and warning you that once your post is in the fediverse, Threads has no control over the rules of the servers it’s posted to. If you stop sharing, Meta may request that previously shared posts be removed from another server, but that’s about it. (Note: These were the warnings I saw when I first went through the process in March; since they only appear the first time you enable sharing, they may have changed since then.)

Some other things to keep in mind:

A share symbol will appear next to your name on your Threads profile page (outlined here in blue).

Screenshot: Meta

So what does all this mean?

Means, instagram.com/169559812696339″>according to Metathat “your Threads profile may be followed by people using different servers in the fediverse, and you will eventually be able to follow them from within Threads.” If you have enabled the sharing feature and select “Share in the fediverse,” you will be reminded of your username and informed that you can now connect and share with others in the fediverse.

From my Mastodon account, I was able to follow my Threads account.

A couple of shared posts as seen on Threads.

How important this is will depend on how well cross-posting works in the future, how seamless the process is, and what kind of security measures are put in place to prevent malicious actors from using it to invade servers that are supposed to be safe spaces, among other things. As I mentioned above, I’ve been using it since March and have found the process to work well. This could be the beginning of a much more comprehensive kind of social network.

Updated September 13, 2024: Updated to include the unique link leading to the Fediverse sharing dialog, along with other changes.