We ❤ The Fediverse!

We have adopted Mastodon, Peertube, Odysee, Matrix, etc and we think you should too!

All our current social media is controlled by a single set of entities... We all observe that at every stage, invasive levels of data collection, censorship, and overall non-openness is all-pervasive. This is not good for a number of reasons, like us accepting and giving in to our b̵̼̜̅è̴̝̇͘ņ̸͋ȩ̵̜̈v̴̜̳̗͌̚o̵̱̬͖͋̌̑l̶͚͈͈̄̉ĕ̸͚̻̞n̶͔͐t̴̝͖̜́ overlords, or them pushing boundaries on exploiting feedback loops to the point of creating addictions. As we move forward, we need to have a system where the users control the data, and there is no risk of loss in moving from one social to another, in the event of compromise, change of leadership, etc. This sounds like a far fetched dream, except usenet, email, matrix, lemmy, etc and more solutions have already achieved it!

We believe that going pro-consumer or pro-user is essential to meet the right audiences, and not force anyone to be on a certain platform(thanks to the magic of federation!) in order to interact with us. This move is a very good thing since anyone on lemmy, for example, can interact with our mastodon handle! Same goes for Meta's threads(we hope...) and more. We encourage everyone to "upgrade" their roster of social media accounts to take advantage of this level of anti-corporation control and flexibility, which will eventually assist in making the ActivityPub a standard in the 'normie" social media space, as time goes on.

What is the Fediverse and why is it important for online freedom and privacy?

"The fediverse (a portmanteau of "federation" and "universe") is an ensemble of federated (i.e. interconnected) servers that are used for web publishing (i.e. social networking, microblogging, blogging, or websites) and file hosting, which, while independently hosted, can communicate with each other.

On different servers (technically instances), users can create so-called identities. These identities can communicate across the boundaries of the instances because the software running on the servers supports one or more communication protocols that follow an open standard. As identities on the fediverse, users can post text and other media, or follow posts by other identities. In some cases, users can show or share data (video, audio, text, and other files) publicly or to a selected group of identities, and allow other identities to edit other users' data (such as a calendar or an address book). A key distinguishing feature of the fediverse is decentralization. There is no central authority that controls or determines what is acceptable as each instance is independent." - Wikipedia

How do Mastodon, Peertube, Odysee, Matrix and other decentralized platforms work and what are their benefits and challenges?

"It provides a client/server API for creating, updating, and deleting content, as well as a federated server-to-server API for delivering notifications and content" - Wikipedia. This allows me on the mastodon instance infosec.exchange, to interact with someone on Meta's threads, someone on another mastodon, or look at [email protected], for example. This way, we can traverse entire social medias without switching accounts!

1. There is risk of de-federation on instance to instance basis, at moderation teams' discretion
2. Easy mainstream adoption is (while doable) difficult.
3. Since it is open source, there is stigma due to misconceptions about security
4. Some instances spread political propaganda since moderation becomes a little harder. In such cases, moderators often de-federate from these instances.

How do I join the Fediverse and find communities that suit my interests and values? Can I self-host it on my VPS or HomeLab?

!!!!! Every major platform has a join-platform style page, which extensively documents the process, in an easy to understand way.

1. join-lemmy.org

2. joinmastodon.org

   There will be many more, to discuss about federated communities or alternatives, hop onto our matrix room! As for self hosting, it is possible and even encouraged! These join style pages often have a section for self-hosting

How do I promote the Fediverse and spread awareness among my friends, family and followers?

One of the responses I've heard goes "but nobody uses it!"... You using it especially as a protest tool, shows others that there are users on the platform, and convinces them to move. Even a single person encouraged is worth something, when it comes to an open platform.

Word of mouth and generally talking about it online is a powerful tool!

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