Fediverse

A logo that represents the fediverse

The fediverse is many social media and internet software that can talk with each other. Its name comes from the words "federation" and "universe," because each server is independent from the others. Federated social media allow people on different social media to like, follow, and comment on each other's profiles.

Similar to e-mail, the fediverse is not owned by one person or company. Any person or company can make social media instances (servers) on the fediverse. And similar to email, these instances can connect and talk with each other.

For example, Mastodon gGmbH has the fediverse instance “mastodon.social”, and Gmail has the email address “gmail.com”. A person on “mastodon.social” has the fediverse identity “@ username @mastodon.social”, and a person on “gmail.com” has the email address “ username @gmail.com”. But a “gmail.com” user can send an email to someone who uses a different email provider, like “hotmail.com”. Similarly, a “mastodon.social” user can comment on a post by someone who uses a different fediverse instance, like “mozilla.social”.

Federated networking services

Fediverse software, and other federated networks, visualized in a tree figure

Different fediverse software have different kinds of content. Some are for images, while others are for videos. Fediverse software have multiple instances. Some fediverse software, like Mastodon, have hundreds of instances that can connect with each other. Usually, people can use federated social media software by opening one of the software's instances in their web browser (Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge...), by using phone apps, or by using a web app.

Popular fediverse software
Networking service Similar networking service Popular instances Instance operator Open sign-up
Mastodon Twitter mastodon.social Mastodon gGmbH, a German nonprofit Yes
mstdn.social “stux”, a man from the Netherlands Yes
Lemmy Reddit lemmy.world[source?] Ruud Schilders, from the Netherlands Yes
lemmy.ml[source?] Lemmy's developers No
Kbin Reddit kbin.social Yes
fedia.io Yes
Misskey Twitter misskey.io MisskeyHQ, a Japanese company Yes
misskey.design Yes
PeerTube YouTube the.jokertv.eu Yes
Pixelfed Instagram pixelfed.social Daniel Supernault, Pixelfed's main developer Yes

References

  1. 1 2 Mir, Cindy Cohn and Rory (2022-11-16). "The Fediverse Could Be Awesome (If We Don't Screw It Up)". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  2. 1 2 "Meta plans feed for Threads after users complain". BBC News. 2023-07-10. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  3. 1 2 Knight, Will. "The Man Behind Mastodon Built It for This Moment". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  4. ↑ Cline, Susan (2022-05-26). "The difference between Gmail, a Google Account and Google Workspace accounts". TechRepublic. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  5. ↑ Taylor, Josh (2022-11-08). "What is Mastodon, the social network users are leaving Twitter for? Everything you need to know". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  6. ↑ Farrell, Henry (2022-11-12). "Analysis | Musk is wrecking speech moderation on Twitter. There's an alternative". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  7. ↑ Perez, Sarah (2023-05-04). "Mozilla expands its Mastodon investment with beta launch of its own highly moderated server". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  8. 1 2 3 "Servers". joinmastodon.org. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  9. ↑ Robertson, Adi (2019-07-12). "How the biggest decentralized social network is dealing with its Nazi problem". The Verge. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  10. ↑ Huang, Kalley (2022-11-07). "What Is Mastodon and Why Are People Leaving Twitter for It?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  11. 1 2 "What Is Mastodon, the Alternative Social Network Now Blocked by Twitter?". CNET. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  12. ↑ Chan, Wilfred (2022-11-02). "Mastodon gained 70,000 users after Musk's Twitter takeover. I joined them". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  13. ↑ Fundamental Challenges to Global Peace and Security (Hardcover). Springer. February 5, 2022. p. 152. ISBN 9783030790714. "A single mod can handle most of the load," said Daniel Supernault, the developer for PixelFed and the sole moderator for the flagship instance for the ActivityPub equivalent of Instagram, "We don't get many reports, the latest one on ...
  14. ↑ "@ruud - Lemmy.world". lemmy.world. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  15. ↑ "About Me | Ruud's Blog". ruudschilders.com. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  16. 1 2 "The Federation - a statistics hub". the-federation.info. Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  17. ↑ "Lemmy - Browse servers". join-lemmy.org. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  18. ↑ "Looking for a Reddit alternative? Lemmy tell you, they currently kinda suck". Android Authority. 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Fediverse Observer". kbin.fediverse.observer. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  20. 1 2 "Japan's Twitter-like Misskey to form company in bid for survival". Nikkei Asia. 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Fediverse Observer". misskey.fediverse.observer. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  22. ↑ "PeerTube, une tentative d'alternative française et décentralisée à YouTube". LEFIGARO (in French). 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  23. 1 2 "PeerTube instances". instances.joinpeertube.org. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  24. ↑ "Making ActivityPub Your Social Media Hub for Mastodon and Other Decentralized Services". 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  25. ↑ "Pixelfed Server Directory". Pixelfed. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  26. ↑ "Pixelfed - Decentralized social media". Pixelfed. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  27. ↑ Pépin, Guénaël (15 June 2018). "PixelFed, un embryon d'alternative libre à Instagram". Next Impact (in French).