@kissane The big question to my mind is how Meta keeps switching costs high. Federation means Threads users can see posts from other instances next to ads — but also •should• mean that Threads users can jump to an ad-free client. And when everything turns stupid and Threads pulls the fedi plug and/or gets the boot, folks •should• be able to jump instances to maintain their valued social connections.
Meta will fight tooth and nail to prevent all that. User capture is their lifeblood.