What is The Fediverse?

The fediverse is a network of independently operated social platforms that communicate using shared, open protocols—most commonly ActivityPub. Instead of a single, centralized service, the fediverse is made up of many servers (often called instances) run by different organizations or individuals.

Each instance hosts its own users and content, but can exchange posts, follows and likes with other instances across the network. From a user’s perspective, this means people on Mastodon (for example) can follow an Owncast server, get notified when the stream goes live, and share that stream with their followers, all while using their existing Mastodon account.

Key characteristics:

• Decentralized: No single owner or point of control, as each instance is autonomous.
• Federated: Instances interoperate by exchanging activities (posts, follows, etc.) over open protocols.
• Interoperable: Different applications (e.g., Mastodon, Pleroma, PeerTube, Owncast) can interact with each other.
• User choice: Users can choose an instance that matches their values or run their own, without losing the ability to connect with the wider network.

The Future

A decentralized network of different services built on standards is the future of social networking. Learn more about all the different services that make up The Fediverse and see how, much like Owncast can empower you to operate your own live streams, there are other opportunities to leave the centralized corporate social networking services in the past.

Discover services and sites that make up The Fediverse

• Join The Fediverse is an overview of The Fediverse and how it works.
• What is The Fediverse? on Fediverse.wiki.
• Fediverse on Wikipedia.
• Fediverse.party
• Fediverse.observer