Mastodon will introduce quoted posts, despite opposition from some users.
"To publish quotes or not to publish quotes?"
Mastodon, the decentralized social media platform, has announced that it is working on introducing quote posts, a change that could generate mixed opinions among its users. This decision was communicated in a recent update, aiming to facilitate the transition of users from traditional social media, controlled by large corporations, to a more open social networking space.
Initially, Mastodon was hesitant to implement this feature due to its potential misuse for malicious purposes, such as taking quotes out of context or harassment. However, the platform realized that the lack of quote posts was discouraging many who might join the Fediverse. Some critics have pointed out that this feature has had a negative impact on Twitter, as it allows users to direct hate attacks and criticism towards others.
To mitigate the misuse of this new feature, Mastodon will allow users to decide whether they want their posts to be quotable by others. There will also be notifications to inform users when their content is quoted, and they will have the option to withdraw their post from the quote context at any time.
Despite these advancements, Mastodon faces technical challenges in implementing quote posts. The lack of standardization for this feature complicates its integration into ActivityPub, the decentralized social media protocol used by the platform. Additionally, since these quotes will affect a significant part of the Mastodon code, their development will require time.
No timeline has been established for the arrival of quote posts, but Mastodon is working on creating a specification that will allow for their implementation in other Fediverse applications. The idea of adding this feature was first considered in 2023, at which point they received a grant to advance the project. The platform has acknowledged the concerns generated by the implementation of this option in the community, while also expressing its commitment to share the progress made and address user feedback.
