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The Fediverse

Written by Mohsen in Online Marketing Business on September 28, 2024

What we know about the Fediverse

The Fediverse (a portmanteau of “federation” and “universe”) refers to a decentralized network of independently hosted servers that communicate with each other using a common set of protocols, such as ActivityPub, OStatus, or Diaspora. These servers, or instances, host social media platforms, blogs, microblogs, and other services, and they form a larger interconnected system where users can interact across different servers, similar to how email works across different providers.

Key Features of the Fediverse:

Decentralization: Unlike traditional social media platforms that are centralized (like Facebook or Twitter), the Fediverse is composed of independently run servers. Anyone can set up their own instance and connect it to the wider Fediverse.

Interoperability: Despite being hosted on different instances, users on one platform can communicate and share content with users on another platform, provided they both support the same protocol, like ActivityPub.

Privacy and Control: Since users can choose their own server or create one, they have more control over their data and how the platform is run. This can lead to greater privacy and autonomy for users.

Diversity of Platforms: Different types of platforms exist in the Fediverse, including:

Mastodon: A microblogging platform similar to Twitter, but federated.

Pleroma: Another microblogging platform that is lightweight and offers a different approach to social interaction.

Pixelfed: A federated image-sharing platform, similar to Instagram.

Peertube: A decentralized video-sharing platform.

Friendica: A social networking platform that is more akin to Facebook.

Diaspora: One of the earliest decentralized social networks.

User Empowerment: Users are not tied to the rules and algorithms of a single corporate entity. They can migrate between servers and retain control over their experience.

No Central Authority: There is no single company or organization that controls the Fediverse. Each instance has its own moderation policies, and server admins can block or connect with other servers as they see fit.

How it Works:

When a user posts content, it’s shared on their instance. If someone from a different instance is following them, that content can be shared across the servers, allowing for communication and interaction between users on different instances. The Fediverse’s use of open protocols allows this seamless interaction.

In contrast to the centralized control typical of major social media platforms, the Fediverse promotes diversity and community-based governance, encouraging collaboration rather than competition.

The Importance of the Fediverse

The Fediverse is important for several key reasons, primarily because of its decentralized, user-focused nature. Here are some of the most significant aspects of its importance:

Decentralization and Independence

Freedom from Corporate Control: Traditional social media platforms are centralized and controlled by corporations that have a vested interest in monetizing user data, promoting certain content via algorithms, and setting rules that govern user behavior. In the Fediverse, no single entity controls the entire network. This allows for a more democratic and user-driven approach to online interaction.

Resilience: Because the Fediverse is made up of many independent servers (instances), there is no single point of failure. If one instance shuts down or experiences problems, the broader network remains functional.

User Privacy and Control

Data Sovereignty: Users in the Fediverse have more control over their data. They can choose instances with privacy policies they agree with or run their own instance, which gives them full control over their personal information.

Escape from Surveillance Capitalism: Many centralized platforms make money by harvesting user data for advertising purposes. The Fediverse is a way for users to opt out of this model by choosing platforms that don’t rely on data exploitation.

Customization and Autonomy

Community-Led Moderation: Each instance in the Fediverse sets its own rules, moderation policies, and community standards. Users can choose or create communities that align with their values and interests, leading to more personalized experiences.

No Algorithmic Manipulation: In many centralized social networks, algorithms control what content users see, often to increase engagement or promote ads. The Fediverse typically shows content chronologically or based on user-defined preferences, giving users more control over their experience.

Open Standards and Interoperability

Open Protocols: The Fediverse is based on open standards like ActivityPub, allowing different types of platforms (e.g., microblogs, video sharing, image sharing) to interact with each other seamlessly. This interoperability fosters a diverse ecosystem of services and communities that are interconnected yet independent.

Innovation and Experimentation: Because the Fediverse is based on open-source software, developers can create new tools, instances, and protocols to enhance the network. This fosters innovation in a way that proprietary platforms often restrict.

Diversity of Platforms and Communities

Niche Communities: The Fediverse allows for the creation of instances focused on niche interests or specific values. Whether it’s a community around a particular hobby, political belief, or cultural identity, the Fediverse can accommodate diverse groups that might not have a voice on larger platforms.

Content Variety: With platforms like Mastodon (microblogging), Pixelfed (image sharing), Peertube (video sharing), and more, users can explore different types of content creation and sharing within the same network. This diversity promotes creativity and a broader range of expression.

Censorship Resistance

Freedom of Speech: On centralized platforms, content can be censored or removed at the discretion of the platform owner. On the Fediverse, each instance has its own moderation policies, and users can migrate to another instance if they disagree with the rules or if their content is being censored.

Global Access: Because there’s no single point of control, the Fediverse can be more resistant to censorship from governments or corporations. Instances can be hosted in different jurisdictions, giving users access to free and open communication.

An Alternative to the Attention Economy

Focus on Community Over Profit: Many centralized platforms are built to maximize user engagement, often leading to addictive patterns of behavior and content that prioritizes shock value or outrage. The Fediverse is designed to foster healthier, more meaningful interactions where the goal isn’t to sell ads or drive traffic, but to build communities.

Chronological Timelines: Many instances on the Fediverse display posts in chronological order rather than relying on engagement-driven algorithms. This shifts the focus from attention-seeking content to genuine interactions.

Empowerment Through Open Source

Transparency and Collaboration: Since much of the software in the Fediverse is open-source, anyone can contribute to its development, audit the code, or create their own versions of platforms. This openness fosters a sense of collective ownership and improvement.

Lower Barriers to Entry: Open-source software lowers the cost of starting new platforms, making it easier for individuals and small groups to launch their own instances without the need for massive infrastructure.

The Fediverse is significant because it offers a vision of social networking and online communication that prioritizes decentralization, user control, privacy, and diversity. It stands as a counterpoint to the centralized, profit-driven platforms that dominate today’s internet, giving users the power to shape their own online experience and reclaim control over their data and communities.

The Fediverse and other social platforms

The Fediverse plays a unique role in the social media landscape due to its decentralized nature, contrasting sharply with centralized platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Below are some key comparisons, supported by statistics and commonalities, to highlight its position:

User Base and Growth

Fediverse Size: The Fediverse is relatively small compared to mainstream platforms, but it’s steadily growing. As of early 2023, platforms like Mastodon (the most popular Fediverse service) had around 10 million registered accounts spread across thousands of independent servers (instances). Overall, the Fediverse is estimated to have 14-16 million users.

Twitter: As of 2023, Twitter had approximately 368 million monthly active users. Despite some user migration following changes in ownership, Twitter is still orders of magnitude larger than Mastodon or other Fediverse platforms.

Facebook: Facebook remains dominant with around 2.96 billion monthly active users as of 2023.

Instagram: With around 2.35 billion users, Instagram continues to be a leading social platform.

Comparative Insight: Although the Fediverse is much smaller, its growth reflects an increasing interest in alternatives to centralized social platforms, especially among privacy-conscious and tech-savvy users. For example, after Twitter’s acquisition by Elon Musk, Mastodon saw a massive spike in new users, with over a million users joining in just a few weeks after October 2022.

Decentralization vs. Centralization

Fediverse: The Fediverse is decentralized, meaning there is no central company controlling user data or platform behavior. It uses protocols like ActivityPub to allow interaction across different instances. Users have greater autonomy, choosing the instances they join or creating their own.

Centralized Platforms: Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are centralized, meaning one entity controls the platform’s rules, data, and moderation practices. These companies dictate the user experience and often leverage user data for advertising.

Commonality: Despite structural differences, both centralized platforms and Fediverse instances aim to connect people, share content, and foster communities. However, while central platforms use algorithms to optimize engagement, Fediverse instances typically follow a more community-driven approach with chronological timelines and user-specific moderation rules.

Monetization and Data Privacy

Fediverse: There is no inherent business model on most Fediverse platforms. Instances are often run by volunteers or supported by donations and crowdfunding. Importantly, user data is not monetized. Privacy is a key value, and instances are more transparent about their data practices.

Traditional Social Platforms: Major platforms like Facebook and Instagram monetize user data by selling targeted advertising. Facebook alone generated $116 billion in ad revenue in 2022, relying heavily on data collection to drive personalized ads.

Commonality: Both types of platforms need to sustain their operations, but the Fediverse typically operates on donations and user-supported models, while traditional platforms use user data as their main revenue source.

Content and Algorithms

Fediverse: Content discovery on the Fediverse is often chronological, meaning users see posts in the order they are made, without algorithmic filtering. There is less pressure for virality or “likes,” and the user experience is more about community engagement rather than maximizing time spent on the platform.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: These platforms use engagement-driven algorithms that promote content likely to elicit likes, shares, and comments. The goal is to increase user engagement, often leading to the prioritization of sensational or controversial content. For example, Facebook’s algorithms have been criticized for amplifying polarizing content to keep users engaged.

Commonality: Both centralized platforms and the Fediverse rely on user-generated content, but they differ drastically in how that content is presented. While mainstream platforms often use algorithms to increase engagement (and advertising revenue), the Fediverse prioritizes user control over content display.

Moderation and Community Standards

Fediverse: Moderation is decentralized, meaning each instance has its own rules and governance. Users can choose instances with rules that align with their values or migrate to different instances if they disagree with the moderation style. For example, Mastodon instances often establish strict anti-harassment policies, but other instances may prioritize free speech with minimal moderation.

Centralized Platforms: Companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have global moderation policies that are centrally enforced. These policies often attract criticism for being too restrictive (censorship) or too lenient (failing to curb hate speech). Facebook, for instance, has over 15,000 content moderators working to enforce its policies globally, but enforcement remains imperfect.

Commonality: Both the Fediverse and centralized platforms face challenges in managing content, including hate speech, misinformation, and harassment. However, the decentralized structure of the Fediverse allows for more diverse approaches, while centralized platforms apply uniform policies.

Community and Niche Focus

Fediverse: The Fediverse is home to numerous niche communities because of its decentralized structure. Instances can cater to specific groups, whether based on interests, languages, or values. This allows users to engage in smaller, more intimate communities that often feel more personal and supportive.

Mainstream Platforms: Centralized platforms also host communities, but they tend to be broader and more diffuse. Niche groups exist, but they are typically part of a larger ecosystem where visibility and virality often overshadow smaller communities.

Commonality: Both types of platforms foster communities, but the Fediverse’s decentralized nature allows for more tailored, tight-knit experiences. Meanwhile, mainstream platforms’ scale means communities can reach vast audiences, albeit with less control over how they engage.

Interoperability vs. Walled Gardens

Fediverse: The Fediverse operates on open standards like ActivityPub, meaning platforms like Mastodon, Pixelfed, and Peertube can interact with each other. For example, a Mastodon user can follow and comment on a Pixelfed user’s posts seamlessly.

Centralized Platforms: Most mainstream platforms are walled gardens, meaning they don’t allow interaction with users or content from other networks. For example, a Twitter user cannot follow a Facebook account directly from Twitter.

Commonality: Both types of platforms encourage social interaction, but the Fediverse prioritizes openness and interoperability, whereas centralized platforms prefer closed ecosystems to retain user attention and data.

The Fediverse stands out for its decentralized governance, user privacy, niche communities, and lack of reliance on advertising, making it particularly appealing to those looking for alternatives to mainstream platforms. However, it is still significantly smaller in scale compared to giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The absence of algorithms and focus on community-driven moderation are key differentiators, while the lack of centralized control provides users with a sense of ownership over their social experience. While mainstream platforms dominate the landscape, the Fediverse offers an important counterbalance for users seeking privacy, autonomy, and open standards.

The Fediverse and Centralized Social Media Platforms Connections and Interactions

There are several connections and interactions between the Fediverse and centralized social media platforms, although these relationships vary depending on the specific platform and type of interaction. Below are key ways the Fediverse can interact with or connect to other social platforms:

Cross-Posting

Many users on Fediverse platforms like Mastodon or Pixelfed engage in cross-posting to their accounts on centralized platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Tools and plugins exist that automatically mirror or repost content from one platform to another. For instance, Mastodon-Twitter cross-posters allow users to post a tweet on Twitter, which is then automatically shared as a Mastodon post, or vice versa.

Bridging tools like these help users maintain their presence on multiple platforms without duplicating their efforts, making it easier to be active on both decentralized and centralized platforms.

Importing and Exporting Contacts

Some tools or extensions allow users to import contacts from centralized platforms (like Twitter or Facebook) into Fediverse instances such as Mastodon. While not officially supported by all platforms, these tools scrape or integrate data to help users find their friends or followers from mainstream platforms on the Fediverse.

Some third-party services can help export content or contact lists from centralized platforms into formats that can be used on Fediverse instances.

Linking Accounts

Fediverse platforms often allow users to link their profiles from mainstream platforms. For example, many Mastodon profiles display links to a user’s Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube account. This helps users maintain a visible presence across multiple ecosystems and redirect followers from centralized platforms to the Fediverse.

Some users on centralized platforms add their Fediverse usernames (e.g., “@username”) to their bios, encouraging followers to find and follow them on decentralized platforms.

Integration of ActivityPub with Other Platforms

ActivityPub, the open protocol that powers much of the Fediverse (including Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube), can theoretically be integrated into centralized platforms. For example:

WordPress: Some WordPress sites use ActivityPub plugins that allow WordPress blogs to interact with Fediverse users. Blog posts published on a WordPress site can appear on Mastodon or other Fediverse platforms, and Mastodon users can comment on the blog post from within the Fediverse.

Drupal: Similar to WordPress, the Drupal content management system has ActivityPub plugins, allowing it to participate in the Fediverse.

There have been discussions about introducing ActivityPub to larger platforms, but major platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram have yet to adopt this protocol.

Content Sharing and Virality

Content from centralized platforms often makes its way to the Fediverse through user sharing. For example, tweets or YouTube videos are frequently shared in Mastodon posts or PeerTube videos, allowing discussion and interaction around mainstream platform content.

Similarly, users on the Fediverse might create or host original content (e.g., a video on PeerTube or an image on Pixelfed) that later goes viral and is shared on centralized platforms like Twitter or Facebook. This cross-pollination enables ideas to spread between ecosystems.

External Tools and Services Bridging Platforms

There are several tools and services designed to bridge the gap between the Fediverse and centralized platforms. Some notable examples include:

Moa.party: A service that allows for cross-posting between Mastodon and Twitter.

Bridgy: A service that enables backfed interactions, meaning that likes or comments on posts on platforms like Facebook or Twitter can be reflected back to the original post on the Fediverse.

Fedilab: A multi-platform mobile app that supports both Fediverse interactions and interactions with other social platforms, helping users manage accounts across multiple networks in one place.

Migration of Users from Centralized Platforms

Many users who are disillusioned with centralized platforms due to privacy concerns, algorithmic content manipulation, or moderation policies often migrate to the Fediverse. High-profile incidents, like changes in Twitter’s ownership, have driven surges in new Mastodon signups, as people seek more control over their online experience.

This migration helps bridge the user base between platforms as people encourage their followers on centralized platforms to join them in the Fediverse.

Open Source and Ethical Comparisons

The Fediverse and some centralized platforms share the ethos of open-source development and community-driven innovation. While most centralized platforms are proprietary, some projects, like WordPress and Drupal, align more closely with the decentralized ideals of the Fediverse.

Bluesky: A project initiated by Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter) aims to create a decentralized social media protocol, much like the Fediverse. If Bluesky achieves its goals, it could bridge the gap between centralized and decentralized social networks, leading to increased integration and potential interoperability with Fediverse platforms through similar protocols.

Content Moderation and Federation Blocks

Content Moderation: While centralized platforms tend to have standardized global moderation policies, the Fediverse allows each instance to have its own. This difference sometimes causes friction. For example, certain Fediverse instances have chosen to block interactions with centralized platforms or other Fediverse instances that don’t adhere to their moderation standards. This is especially true in cases where users on decentralized platforms disagree with how content moderation is handled on mainstream social media.

Federation Blocks: Some Mastodon instances (especially those with a focus on privacy or ethics) might block cross-posting services or interactions with specific mainstream social platforms for ideological reasons, particularly if those platforms engage in surveillance capitalism or are seen as contributing to harmful online behavior.

The Fediverse and centralized platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are separate ecosystems but have various connections through cross-posting, shared content, and user migrations. Tools and services help bridge the gap between the two types of platforms, allowing users to maintain activity in both. However, the Fediverse’s focus on privacy, decentralization, and autonomy offers a fundamentally different experience from centralized platforms, making it an important alternative for users seeking more control over their online presence. The potential for further integration via protocols like ActivityPub suggests that connections between the Fediverse and other platforms may grow over time.

Threads and Fediverse?

As of 2024, Meta’s Threads has taken significant steps toward integrating with the Fediverse, specifically by adopting the ActivityPub protocol. This integration will allow Threads users to interact with users on decentralized platforms like Mastodon and WordPress without needing separate accounts. Currently, Threads users with public profiles who opt in can share posts to the Fediverse, although certain content types, like polls or posts with restricted replies, are excluded from this functionality.

Meta is implementing this integration gradually, ensuring interoperability between Threads and other Fediverse platforms while balancing user experience and technical challenges. For example, users can federate quote posts and interact with replies from other servers, but the system still has limitations. Some interactions, such as likes or replies from Fediverse platforms, may not be fully visible on Threads without visiting those external platforms.

Meta aims to make this interaction seamless by eventually allowing content to flow both ways—enabling Threads users to engage with Fediverse users and vice versa. However, the rollout is phased, with features like aggregated follower counts and full cross-platform replies still under development. This integration is part of Meta’s broader goal to promote decentralized social networking while addressing technical complexities and ensuring user safety.

The move signals Meta’s recognition of the growing demand for decentralized, open social networks and positions Threads as a bridge between traditional social media and the Fediverse.

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