Following up on [this question I asked back in late March](https://community.nodebb.org/topic/18735/how-do-piefed-lemmy-mbin-handle-cross-posting), I wanted to continue thinking about how one would handle cross-posting between categories/communities, given that there isn't current consensus on it, and _especially_ given that NodeBB—as of v4.3.0—[can now see and browse remote categories](https://community.nodebb.org/topic/18788/nodebb-v4.3.0-remote-categories-are-a-go). From that original topic, we can distil the following: 1. Both PieFed and Mbin do not natively handle cross-posts, a new entity is made with the crucial bits (link, text, possibly title) copied over and changed if needed, sometimes a _"cross-posted from..."_ helper text is prepended. 1. There are legitimate concerns that a cross-post might not succeed depending on privilege settings on the receiving end, so a pre-flight check (or explicit rejection) of some kind might be required. 1. Cross-posting can be done by the original author, or another user. So were an FEP to be written, we'd center it around the following assumptions: * "A user (which may or may not be the object author) is sharing an object to additional audiences" * We would use the existing `Announce(Object)` model * We would not use `Announce(Activity)` because it is not the original object _creation_ that is being announced, but the object itself, to a new audience. * Some form of `Reject` handling would be required for cases where the cross-post is not allowed * How the receiver handles the activity is out-of-scope of the FEP. It could be that the original object is contained within multiple categories/communities, or a duplicate object could be created — implementor's choice. This is **very similar** to an existing announce/boost/reshare, except that instead of addressing the activity to followers list you are addressing it to a group actor's inbox. Some additional questions: 1. Is there desire from PieFed/Lemmy/Mbin for supporting incoming (and possibly outgoing) federation of cross-posting? 1. What exactly happens currently if a Group actor receives an `Announce(Object)`? My guess is nothing, currently, but let me know otherwise 1. Would this allow you to accept cross-posts from other AP applications without needing to refactor any existing code? 1. Duplicating the object would mean the discussion is split between objects. The ideal implementation would be the **same** object present in multiple categories/communities. Is there desire for this in the threadiverse? [@rimu@piefed.social](https://community.nodebb.org/user/rimu%40piefed.social) [@andrew_s@piefed.social](https://community.nodebb.org/user/andrew_s%40piefed.social) [@melroy@kbin.melroy.org](https://community.nodebb.org/user/melroy%40kbin.melroy.org) [@bentigorlich@gehirneimer.de](https://community.nodebb.org/user/bentigorlich%40gehirneimer.de) [@nutomic@lemmy.ml](https://community.nodebb.org/user/nutomic%40lemmy.ml) [@angusmcleod@mastodon.social](https://community.nodebb.org/user/angusmcleod%40mastodon.social)