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fediverse

The Fediverse is a decentralized, federated social media network with ~5 million users and ~10 thousand instances.

Protocol

Similarly to how email servers use the "email protocol" (SMTP) to share information across services, Fediverse instances use the ActivityPub protocol to share information.


Due to the unifying ActivityPub protocol, the Fediverse is a network of independently hosted services interconnected through the protocol alone. Thousands of instances of the popular services are hosted by everyday people

Appeal

Fediverse's appeal lies in its decentralized nature, massive potential for customization, personal modification, and open source software. In the age of data warehouses, walled gardens, shadowbanning, and targetted ads, Fediverse certainly has its appeal.

Further Reading

Mastodon quick start guide
What is Pleroma?
Why Mastodon and the Fediverse are “doomed to fail”
The Unrealized Potential of Federation
A quick guide to the Free Network
Awesome Fediverse Github Repo
Awesome ActivityPub Github Repo

References

[1] Fediverse, en.Wikipedia.org
[2] ActivityPub, activitypub.rocks
[3] Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, datatracker.ietf.org