<article> <h1>Fediverse</h1> <section> <address class="h-card"> by <a rel="author" class="u-url" href="http://changelog.ca/"><span class="p-given-name">Charles</span> <span class="p-additional-name">Iliya</span> <span class="p-family-name">Krempeaux</span></a> </address> </section> <section> <p> The <strong>Fediverse</strong> is a federated social-media network. </p> <p> The <strong>Fediverse</strong> is to social-media what the Internet is to computer-networks. I.e., just like the Internet is a network of networks, the Fediverse is a network of social-media networks. </p> </section> <section> <h1>Fediverse Simile</h1> <p> <em>What</em> the <strong>Fediverse</strong> <em>is</em> is more obvious once you start using it, but — </p> <p> This is a simile that helps some people understand <em>what</em> the <strong>Fediverse</strong> <em>is</em> — </p> <p> The <strong>Fediverse</strong> is like e-mail, but where you posts are public (rather than private like they are with e-mail). </p> </section> <section> <h2>Mastodon</h2> <p> <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> is the most well-known part of the <strong>Fediverse</strong> — due to attention it has been getting from news media and TV. </p> <p> <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> is <em>not</em> a social-media network <em>per se</em>. <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> is software that anyone can use to create their own social-media network. I.e., there are many many <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link>-based social-media networks. </p> <p> As of 2023, there are tens of thousands of social-media networks that are using the <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> software. And that number has been predicted to grow to the hundreds of thousands in the near future! </p> <p> But what is different between this wave of social-media networks and the previous wave of social-media networks is — these thousands and thousands of <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> based social-media networks <strong>federate</strong>. </p> <blockquote> federation (noun): any group formed from separate entities or objects. </blockquote> </section> <section> <h2>More Fediverse</h2> <p> But <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> based social-media networks don't just <strong>federate</strong> with other <ziba-link dir="software" transform="lowercase">Mastodon</ziba-link> based social-media networks — they <strong>federate</strong> with <em>any</em> software that "speaks" the language of the <strong>Fediverse</strong> — i.e., <ziba-link transform="lowercase">ActivityPub</ziba-link> and others. These other <strong>Fediverse</strong> software includes: </p> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">akkoma</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">bookwyrm</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">castopod</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">firefish</ziba-link> (previously called “<ziba-link dir="software">calckey</ziba-link>”)</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">forgejo</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">friendica</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">funkwhale</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">gitea</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">gnu social</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">gotosocial</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">greatape</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">guppe</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">kbin</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">lemmy</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">misskey</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">mobilizon</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">nextcloud</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">owncast</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">peertube</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">pixelfed</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">pleroma</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">plume</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">postfreely</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">postmarks</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">socialhome</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">writefreely</ziba-link></li> <li><strong>and more!</strong></li> </ul> <p> At last count there are <strong>about 40 different <em>Fediverse</em> software</strong>. Many of them provide a very different experience from the others. </p> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">akkoma</ziba-link>, <ziba-link>mastodon</ziba-link>, <ziba-link>firefish</ziba-link>, <ziba-link>pleroma</ziba-link> and others are Twitter-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">pixelfed</ziba-link> is Instagram-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">peertube</ziba-link> is YouTube-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">friendica</ziba-link> and others are Facebook-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">lemmy</ziba-link> and others are Reddit-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">nextcloud</ziba-link> is Google Drive-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">owncast</ziba-link> is Twitch-like.</li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">forgejo</ziba-link> and <ziba-link>gitea</ziba-link> are GitHub-like.</li> <li>Etc.</li> </ul> <p> Yet, despite all these different user-experiences all these different social-media networks <strong>federate</strong>. </p> </section> <section> <h2>Etymology of ‘Fediverse’</h2> <p> The word “Fediverse” is a combination of (a portmanteau of) the words “federation” and “universe”, or “federated” and “universe”. </p> </section> <section> <section> <h2 id="A">A</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">ActivityPub</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">ActivityStreams</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">akkoma</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>atomicpoet</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="B">B</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">bookwyrm</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="C">C</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">calckey</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">castopod</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>Charles Iliya Krempeaux</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>Chris Trottier</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="D">D</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Daniel Supernault</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>dansup</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="E">E</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Ernest Wisniewski</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">Eternal November</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="F">F</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">FediDB</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link name="id">Fediverse ID</ziba-link> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="id" name="syntax">Fediverse ID syntax</ziba-link></li> </ul> </li> <li><ziba-link name="software">Fediverse software</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">firefish</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">FloatingGhost</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">forgejo</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">friendica</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">funkwhale</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="G">G</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Gabe Kangas</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">gitea</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">gnu social</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">gotosocial</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">greatape</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">guppe</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="H">H</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>host-meta</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="I">I</h2> </section> <section> <h2 id="J">J</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>jrd</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="K">K</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Kainoa Kanter</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">kbin</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="L">L</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Laurens Hof</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">lemmy</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="M">M</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Massoud Seifi</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>Matt Baer</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">misskey</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">mobilizon</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="N">N</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">nextcloud</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>notable servers</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="O">O</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>ostatus</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">owncast</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="P">P</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">peertube</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">pixelfed</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">pleroma</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">plume</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>popular servers</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">postfreely</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">postmarks</ziba-link></li> <ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="Q">Q</h2> </section> <section> <h2 id="R">R</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>reiver</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="S">S</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link dir="software">socialhome</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="T">T</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">ThatOneCalculator</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">Threadiverse</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="U">U</h2> </section> <section> <h2 id="V">V</h2> </section> <section> <h2 id="W">W</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link transform="lowercase">WebFinger</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link dir="software">writefreely</ziba-link></li> <li><ziba-link>who is who</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="X">X</h2> </section> <section> <h2 id="Y">Y</h2> <ul> <li><ziba-link>Yassine Doghri</ziba-link></li> </ul> </section> <section> <h2 id="Z">Z</h2> </section> </section> </article>