Fediverse

{{Short description|Network of federated social media platforms}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} thumb|alt=5 nodes in pentagon shape with all diagonals, multicoloured similarly to a rainbow.|Proposed symbol for the Fediverse from 2018, the "fedigram"<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Brief History of the Fediverse Symbol|url=https://wedistribute.org/2024/09/history-fediverse-symbol/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=We Distribute |date=September 4, 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

The '''Fediverse''' (commonly shortened to '''fedi''')<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kiderlin |first=Sophie |date=2022-11-11 |title=Musk's Twitter takeover sent thousands flocking to Mastodon. Here's what I discovered using the app |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/11/how-to-use-mastodon-i-tried-to-app-heres-what-you-need-to-know.html |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=cnbc.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bayliss |first=Mark |date=2023-06-29 |title=Op-ed: Why the great #TwitterMigration didn't quite pan out |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/op-ed-why-the-great-twittermigration-didnt-quite-pan-out/ |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=arstechnica.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Confino |first=Paolo |date=2023-07-06 |title=Meta's Threads wants you in the 'fediverse.' Here's what that is |url=https://fortune.com/2023/07/06/mark-zuckerberg-replacing-metaverse-with-twitter-killer-threads-fediverse/ |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=fortune.com}}</ref> is a collection of social networking services that can communicate with each other (formally known as federation) using a common protocol. Users of different websites can send and receive status updates, multimedia files and other data across the network. The term ''Fediverse'' is a portmanteau of ''federation'' and ''universe''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of fediverse |url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/fediverse |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=PCMAG |language=en}}</ref>

The majority of Fediverse platforms are based on free and open-source software, and create connections between servers using the ActivityPub protocol. Some software still supports older federation protocols as well, such as OStatus, the Diaspora protocol and Zot, while newer protocols such as AT Protocol connect via network bridges. Diaspora is the only actively developed software project classified under the original definition of ''Fediverse'' that does not support ActivityPub.<ref name="Tilley240917">{{Cite web |last=Tilley |first=Sean |date=24 September 2017 |title=A quick guide to The Free Network |url=https://medium.com/we-distribute/a-quick-guide-to-the-free-network-c069309f334 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108124959/https://medium.com/we-distribute/a-quick-guide-to-the-free-network-c069309f334 |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=We Distribute |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=ActivityPub — Final thoughts, one year later | date=March 12, 2019 | url=https://medium.com/@denschub/activitypub-final-thoughts-one-year-later-194fe591e900 }}</ref>

==Design== While a traditional social networking service will host all its content on servers managed by the owner of the website, the decentralized structure of the Fediverse allows any individual or organization to host a social platform using their own servers (referred to as an "instance").

Every instance is independent, and can set its own rules and expectations. Even so, much like how users of one email service such as Gmail can still send emails to users of another service such as Outlook, users may still view content and interact with users on any other instance in the Fediverse. A user on one Mastodon instance, for example, may view and interact with posts made by a user on a different instance even if it is not running Mastodon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woloshyn |first=Roxannna |date=Jul 19, 2023 |title=What is the fediverse and why does Threads want to join? |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/fediverse-explainer-1.6905837 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724232157/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/fediverse-explainer-1.6905837 |archive-date=July 24, 2023 |access-date=July 24, 2023 |website=CBC}}</ref>

Instances hosted by different social networking services may also communicate with one another. A user on the microblogging platform Misskey, for example, may view and interact with posts made by users on Mastodon. Some Fediverse networks even allow users to interact with different social networking formats from the same platform. For example, a user on a social news instance running Lemmy can interact with another post from an mbin instance, a similar service, as well as microblog statuses from Mastodon.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home {{!}} kbin.pub – Fediverse of content |url=https://kbin.pub/en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725125409/https://kbin.pub/en |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=/kbin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mbin - a fork of kbin - community-focused |url=https://fedidb.org/software/mbin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228123313/https://kbin.melroy.org/ |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |access-date=February 28, 2024 |website=fedidb.org/software/mbin}}</ref>

=== Content moderation and user safety === Decentralized social networking platforms introduce new challenges and difficulties for user trust and safety.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Thiel |first1=David |last2=DiResta |first2=Renee |date=2023-07-24 |title=Addressing Child Exploitation on Federated Social Media |url=https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/news/addressing-child-exploitation-federated-social-media |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=cyber.fsi.stanford.edu |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Agarwal |first1=Vibhor |last2=Raman |first2=Aravindh |last3=Sastry |first3=Nishanth |last4=Abdelmoniem |first4=Ahmed M. |last5=Tyson |first5=Gareth |last6=Castro |first6=Ignacio |date=2024-05-28 |title=Decentralised Moderation for Interoperable Social Networks: A Conversation-Based Approach for Pleroma and the Fediverse |url=https://ojs.aaai.org/index.php/ICWSM/article/view/31293 |journal=Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media |language=en |volume=18 |pages=2–14 |doi=10.1609/icwsm.v18i1.31293 |issn=2334-0770|arxiv=2404.03048 }}</ref> By nature of the Fediverse, operators of an instance are solely responsible for moderation of its content. As there is no form of centralized governance or moderation across the Fediverse, it is impossible for an instance to be "removed" from the Fediverse; it can only be defederated per an instance operator's choice, which makes that instance's content inaccessible from the operator's instance.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last1=Thiel |first1=David |last2=DiResta |first2=Renée |date=2023 |title=Child Safety on Federated Social Media |publisher=Stanford Digital Repository |url=https://purl.stanford.edu/vb515nd6874 |language=en |doi=10.25740/vb515nd6874}}</ref> Individual instances are responsible for defining their own content policies, which may then be enforced by its staff. Moderation of a Fediverse instance differs significantly from that of traditional social media platforms, as moderators are responsible not only for content posted by users of that instance ("local users"), but also for content posted by users of other instances ("remote users").<ref name=":0" />

==History==

===Historical protocols=== thumb|Excerpt of common protocols and platforms in the fediverse (2024)

The concept and the functionality of the Fediverse existed before the ActivityPub protocol and the term itself. One of the first projects that included support for a decentralized social networking service was Laconica, a microblogging platform which implemented the OpenMicroBlogging protocol for communicating between different installations of the software. The software was later renamed to StatusNet in 2009,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-08-31 |title=Laconica is now StatusNet « StatusNet – Open Source microblogging service |url=http://status.net/2009/08/28/laconica-is-now-statusnet/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831073527/http://status.net/2009/08/28/laconica-is-now-statusnet/ |archive-date=August 31, 2009 |access-date=2024-04-04}}</ref> before being merged into the GNU social project in 2013 along with Free Social, with the two latter servers being a fork of StatusNet.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-06-08 |title=GNU social |url=https://www.gnu.org/software/social/merge.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130822051013/https://www.gnu.org/software/social/merge.html |archive-date=2013-08-22 |access-date=2024-04-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=StatusNet, Identi.ca, and transitioning to pump.io [LWN.net] |url=https://lwn.net/Articles/544347/ |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=lwn.net}}</ref>

Over time, the limitations of the OpenMicroBlogging protocol became more apparent, being designed as a one-way text messaging system.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-12-26 |title=Understanding OStatus {{!}} StatusNet |url=http://status.net/2010/03/07/understanding-ostatus |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226233854/http://status.net/2010/03/07/understanding-ostatus |archive-date=December 26, 2011 |access-date=2024-04-04}}</ref> To replace the ageing protocol, OStatus was devised as an open standard for microblogging, combining various other technologies like Salmon, Atom, WebSub and ActivityStreams into a single protocol used for communicating between instances. StatusNet first implemented the OStatus protocol on March 3, 2010, with version 0.9.0, and OStatus quickly became the most popular federated protocol in usage.

Around the same time as OStatus was gaining popularity, the Diaspora social network was formed, using its own federated protocol. To illustrate the differences between the two protocols, the terms of ''the Fediverse'' and ''the federation'' began to enter common usage, mainly after 2017. The term "the Fediverse" was used to describe the network formed by software using the OStatus protocol, such as GNU Social, Mastodon, and Friendica, in contrast to the competing diaspora protocol under "the federation".<ref name="Tilley240917"/>

===ActivityPub=== {{Main|ActivityPub}} thumb|The various platforms of the Fediverse, as well as other federated networks, visualized as a tree

In December 2012, the flagship StatusNet instance at the time, identi.ca, transitioned away to a new software named pump.io, with a new federation protocol to replace OStatus. The new protocol was designed to be useful for general activity streams and not just status updates, and replaced many of OStatus' external dependencies with JSON-LD and a REST API for its messaging and inbox systems, as well as making more use of ActivityStreams. While not as utilized as its OStatus predecessor, it would later become influential in the development of the ActivityPub standard.

In January 2018, the W3C presented the ActivityPub protocol as a recommended standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victory for libre networks: ActivityPub is now a W3C recommended standard — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software |url=https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/victory-for-libre-networks-activitypub-is-now-a-w3c-recommended-standard |access-date=2024-04-04 |website=www.fsf.org}}</ref> The standard aimed to improve the interoperability between different software packages running on a wide network of servers and to supersede both the OStatus protocol and Pump.io.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 10, 2018 |title=Pleroma Encyclical: ActivityPub |url=https://blog.soykaf.com/post/pleroma-encyclical-activity-pub/ |access-date=April 3, 2024 |website=Lainblog}}</ref> By 2019, almost all software that was using OStatus had added support for ActivityPub. While Mastodon began to remove OStatus support, other projects maintained it in their code, such as Friendica (which also maintained diaspora support along with ActivityPub).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remove OStatus-related code · Issue #10740 · mastodon/mastodon |url=https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/10740#issuecomment-491442996 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725000450/https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/10740#issuecomment-491442996 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |access-date=July 25, 2023 |website=GitHub |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=Oct 11, 2019 |title=Mastodon 3.0 |url=https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/10/mastodon-3.0/#goodbye-ostatus-youve-been-deprecated |access-date=April 3, 2024}}</ref>

=== AT Protocol === {{Main|AT Protocol}}

A major protocol often contrasted with ActivityPub is the AT Protocol, which powers the Bluesky social network. While both protocols aim to create decentralized social networks, they employ different technical philosophies regarding user identity.

Developers of the AT Protocol, including Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, have stated they chose not to use ActivityPub because it did not natively support easy "account portability", the ability for a user to move their account, data, and social graph to a new provider without relying on the original server to authorize the move.<ref>{{cite news |last=Patel |first=Nilay |title=Bluesky CEO Jay Graber on breaking the timeline and the limits of federation |url=https://www.theverge.com/24108846/bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-decoder-interview-federation-at-protocol-activitypub-twitter |work=The Verge |date=March 25, 2024}}</ref> In the ActivityPub model (used by Mastodon), a user's identity is typically tied to a specific server, similar to an email address; if that server goes offline, the identity can be lost. The AT Protocol aims to solve this by separating identity from hosting, allowing users to switch providers without losing their identity.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kleppmann |first=Martin |title=Bluesky and the AT Protocol: Usable Decentralized Social Media |url=https://martin.kleppmann.com/2024/03/05/bluesky.html |publisher=Martin Kleppmann's Blog |date=March 5, 2024}}</ref>

Although the two protocols are technically incompatible by default, third-party "bridges" such as Bridgy Fed have been developed to allow users on ActivityPub networks to follow and interact with users on the AT Protocol network, and vice versa.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pierce |first=David |title=This developer is building the bridge between Mastodon and Bluesky |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/5/24172355/bridgy-fed-bluesky-mastodon-activitypub-bridge-snarfed |work=The Verge |date=June 5, 2024}}</ref>

=== Other Fediverse protocols === While the Fediverse has traditionally been the network most commonly referred to and used as an example regarding the subject of decentralized social networks, alternatives to it and the accompanying ActivityPub have been developed and deployed. Smaller competitors such as Nostr and Farcaster have become popular within the cryptocurrency community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Torpey |first=Kyle |title=Here's why Bitcoiners are flocking to Nostr |url=https://fortune.com/crypto/2023/02/21/bitcoiners-flocking-to-nostr-social-network-jack-dorsey-edward-snowden/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=Fortune Crypto |language=en}}</ref> These protocols have used ActivityPub as a frame of reference for which to design their own architecture, as these newer protocols use a different federation model based on publishing content to relays for distribution rather than ActivityPub's server-centric model.<ref>{{Cite web |title=nostr - Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays |url=https://fiatjaf.com/nostr.html |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=fiatjaf.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://atproto.com/guides/faq#why-not-use-activity-pub |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=AT Protocol |language=en}}</ref>

Despite their differences, software exists that permit the bridging of user content between these protocols, including "double-bridges" that span multiple protocols for the purpose of distributing the same content.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2024-05-21 |title=The 'vote Trump' spam that hit Bluesky in May came from decentralized rival Nostr |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/the-vote-trump-spam-that-hit-bluesky-in-may-came-from-decentralized-rival-nostr/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2024-06-05 |title=Bluesky and Mastodon users can now talk to each other with Bridgy Fed |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/05/bluesky-and-mastodon-users-can-now-talk-to-each-other-with-bridgy-fed/ |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Adoption==

Users have been slow to embrace the Fediverse{{citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=Slow according to whom? What metrics are being used?}} due to poor user experience and excessive complexity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why the Fediverse is so slowly adopted – Rand0mise it! |url=https://rand0mise.it/289 |access-date=2024-04-25 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Böck |first=Max |date=2022-11-12 |title=The IndieWeb for Everyone |url=https://mxb.dev/blog/the-indieweb-for-everyone/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Max Böck |language=en}}</ref>

Following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk in November 2022, certain major social networks, including Threads,<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 July 2023 |title=Introducing Threads: A New Way to Share with Text |url=https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/threads-instagram-text-feature |access-date=December 25, 2023 |quote=Our vision is that people using compatible apps will be able to follow and interact with people on Threads without having a Threads account, and vice versa, ushering in a new era of diverse and interconnected networks.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bell |first=Karissa |date=July 5, 2023 |title=Meta's Threads app is here to challenge Twitter |url=https://www.engadget.com/metas-threads-app-is-here-to-challenge-twitter-230039730.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706164944/https://www.engadget.com/metas-threads-app-is-here-to-challenge-twitter-230039730.html |archive-date=July 6, 2023 |access-date=6 July 2023 |website=Engadget |publisher=Yahoo}}</ref> Tumblr and Flipboard, expressed interest in supporting the ActivityPub protocol, as a large number of users began to migrate to Mastodon, a server that supports the Fediverse and was also the most popular alternative to Twitter at the time. Flickr also expressed support in supporting ActivityPub. {{As of|2022|11}}, no information had been released by Flickr after the initial tweets by the CEO, with support for ActivityPub suspected to be on hold or cancelled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davenport |first=Corbin |date=2022-11-25 |title=Tumblr and Flickr Might Join Mastodon's "Fediverse" Network |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/850954/tumblr-and-flickr-might-join-mastodons-fediverse-network/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=How-To Geek |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Flickr: The Help Forum: ActivityPub/Mastodon support status |url=https://www.flickr.com/help/forum/en-us/72157722049037096/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=www.flickr.com}}</ref>

In 2024, the local government of the Stary Sącz municipality in Poland launched their own PeerTube instance<ref>{{Cite web |title=VideoPortal - Gmina Stary Sącz |url=https://video.starysacz.um.gov.pl/ |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=video.starysacz.um.gov.pl |language=en}}</ref> in order to ''de facto'' abolish its presence on YouTube. According to the government, they stopped using YouTube for official communications "in order to adhere to the appropriate regulations".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-05 |title=Komunikat systemowy - Sesje Rady Miejskiej - YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtgXOMmGJNE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805013737/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtgXOMmGJNE |archive-date=August 5, 2024 |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=YouTube}}</ref> In the same year, VIVERSE, HTC Vive's metaverse platform, implemented support for ActivityPub in their chat feature, allowing users to send direct messages to other fediverse users.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=VIVERSE |date=2024-05-02 |title=VIVERSE Joins the Fediverse: Cross-Platform Connection Made Possible |url=https://www.news.viverse.com/post/viverse-joins-the-fediverse-cross-platform-connection-made-possible |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=VIVERSE Blog |language=en}}</ref>

=== Government and public-sector use === Several European public bodies operate ActivityPub services. The European Commission hosts an official Mastodon instance.<ref>{{cite web |title=About -European Commission on Mastodon |url=https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/about |website=European Commission on Mastodon |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref> The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) published a data protection notice laying out the legal framework for operating a Mastodon service.<ref>{{cite web |title=EDPS Mastodon server - Data Protection Notice |url=https://www.edps.europa.eu/system/files/2025-07/63-edps-dpn-mastodon_en_0.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=European Data Protection Supervisor |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref>{{AI-retrieved source|date=March 2026|checked=yes}} More recently, Mastodon offers paid support aimed at larger institutions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Service offerings from Mastodon |url=https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/09/service-offerings-from-mastodon/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=Mastodon Blog |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref>{{AI-retrieved source|date=March 2026|checked=yes}} However, the decentralized architecture of the network cannot centrally enforce age verification because verification data is left to individual server operators.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mastodon says ir doesn't have the means to comply with age verification laws |website=TechCrunch |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/29/mastodon-says-it-doesnt-have-the-means-to-comply-with-age-verification-laws/ |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref>

===Content management systems=== WordPress has an officially supported plugin that integrates WordPress blogs into the Fediverse, allowing for comments to be exchanged between the comment section of a blog post and a Fediverse instance's reply function. The plugin was acquired by Automattic in March 2023,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-17 |title=Making the Social Web a Better Place: ActivityPub for WordPress Joins the Automattic Family |url=https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/03/17/making-the-social-web-a-better-place-activitypub-for-wordpress-joins-the-automattic-family/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=WordPress.com News |language=en}}</ref> and became available for all WordPress.com users in October of that same year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-11 |title=Engage a Wider Audience With ActivityPub on WordPress.com |url=https://wordpress.com/blog/2023/10/11/activitypub/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=WordPress.com News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sato |first=Mia |date=2023-10-11 |title=WordPress now offers official support for ActivityPub |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/11/23913278/wordpress-activitypub-official-plugin-automattic-fediverse-mastodon |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref>

Ghost, a blogging platform and content management system, announced in April 2024 that they would be implementing Fediverse support via ActivityPub.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Nilay |date=2024-04-22 |title=Newsletter platform Ghost adopts ActivityPub to 'bring back the open web' |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/22/24137296/ghost-newsletter-activitypub-fediverse-support |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-22 |title=Newsletter service Ghost will support the Fediverse protocol ActivityPub |url=https://www.engadget.com/newsletter-service-ghost-will-support-the-fediverse-protocol-activitypub-231359155.html |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Building ActivityPub |url=https://activitypub.ghost.org/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Building ActivityPub |language=en}}</ref> The feature had been highly requested on its forums.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-13 |title=Federate over ActivityPub |url=https://forum.ghost.org/t/federate-over-activitypub/1989 |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Ghost Forum |language=en}}</ref> In July 2024, Ghost started federating its development newsletter for the feature.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=8 July 2024 |title=Substack rival Ghost federates its first newsletter |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/08/substack-rival-ghost-federates-its-first-newsletter/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240715141239/https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/08/substack-rival-ghost-federates-its-first-newsletter/ |archive-date=15 July 2024 |access-date=10 August 2024 |work=TechCrunch}}</ref>

===Microblogging=== Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg tweeted in November 2022 that Tumblr was adding support for ActivityPub interoperability, in response to a user's complaints about Mastodon's complexity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2022-11-21 |title=Tumblr to add support for ActivityPub, the social protocol powering Mastodon and other apps |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/21/tumblr-to-add-support-for-activitypub-the-social-protocol-powering-mastodon-and-other-apps/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> However, no further information was revealed for over a year, and the project was expected to be cancelled after a leaked reorganization that moved most of Tumblr's staff to other Automattic projects. However, following a question from a TechCrunch reporter during a questionnaire about the leaked memo, he revealed that the interoperability feature was not cancelled and that there was a small team working on studying the potential of implementing the protocol.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2023-12-11 |title=Tumblr's 'Fediverse' integration is still being worked on, says owner and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/11/tumblrs-fediverse-integration-is-still-being-worked-on-says-owner-and-automattic-ceo-matt-mullenweg/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> The plan was once again affirmed by Automattic in January 2025, with the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress most likely being the main method used for interoperability with the fediverse.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2025-02-11 |title=Tumblr to join the fediverse after WordPress migration completes |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/11/tumblr-to-join-the-fediverse-after-wordpress-migration-completes/ |access-date=2025-02-11 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>

The release of Threads by Meta in July 2023 had included in its press release that it planned to support interoperability with the ActivityPub protocol.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-05 |title=Introducing Threads: A New Way to Share With Text |url=https://about.fb.com/news/2023/07/introducing-threads-new-app-text-sharing/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=Meta |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mehta |first=Ivan |date=2023-07-05 |title=Adam Mosseri says Meta's Threads app won't have ActivityPub support at launch |url=https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/05/adam-mosseri-says-metas-threads-app-wont-have-activitypub-support-at-launch/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> In December 2023, select Meta employees began to federate with ActivityPub.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Wes |date=2023-12-13 |title=Threads is officially starting to test ActivityPub integration |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/13/24000120/threads-meta-activitypub-test-mastodon |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref> A roadmap was revealed in January 2024 that detailed the integration of ActivityPub in Threads.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-12 |title=How Threads will integrate with the Fediverse – plasticbag.org |url=http://plasticbag.org/archives/2024/01/how-threads-will-integrate-with-the-fediverse/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |language=en-US}}</ref>

A faction of fediverse server admins, some of whom have listed their names under a pledge named "Fedipact", have expressed resistance to open federation with Threads over concerns that Meta would adopt an "embrace, extend, and extinguish" policy towards the network, or that Threads' moderation would fail to prevent the spread of abusive content targeted towards marginalized communities.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vallance |first1=Chris |last2=Gerken |first2=Tom |date=July 10, 2023 |title=Meta plans feed for Threads after users complain |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66155433 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214232336/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66155433.amp |archive-date=December 14, 2023 |access-date=22 March 2024 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wickens |first1=Katie |date=July 7, 2023 |title=Threads threatens to muscle in on Mastodon's Fediverse and admins are up in arms about it |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/threads-threatens-to-muscle-in-on-mastodons-fediverse-and-admins-are-up-in-arms-about-it/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002182826/https://www.pcgamer.com/threads-threatens-to-muscle-in-on-mastodons-fediverse-and-admins-are-up-in-arms-about-it/ |archive-date=October 2, 2023 |access-date=22 March 2024 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Barber |first1=Gregory |date=July 19, 2023 |title=Fear, loathing, and excitement as Threads adopts open standard used by Mastodon |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/07/fear-loathing-and-excitement-as-threads-adopts-open-standard-used-by-mastodon/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322023113/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/07/fear-loathing-and-excitement-as-threads-adopts-open-standard-used-by-mastodon/ |archive-date=March 22, 2024 |access-date=22 March 2024 |website=Ars Technics}}</ref>

In March 2024, Threads implemented a beta version of Fediverse support, allowing Threads users to view the number of Fediverse users that liked their post, and allowing Fediverse users to view posts from Threads on their own instances.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Zuckerberg |date=March 21, 2024 |title=Threads |url=https://www.threads.net/@zuck/post/C4yMgnQRH_T |access-date=2024-03-21 |website=www.threads.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Roth |first=Emma |date=2024-03-21 |title=Threads' fediverse beta opens to share your posts on Mastodon, too |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/21/24107881/threads-fediverse-beta-launch-mastodon |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Forristal |first=Lauren |date=2024-03-21 |title=Threads opens beta to let users connect their accounts to the Fediverse |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/21/threads-opens-beta-to-let-users-connect-their-accounts-to-the-fediverse/ |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref> On April 2, the official Threads account for President Joe Biden enabled federation on its profile, making Biden the first President of the United States to have a presence on the Fediverse.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Wes |date=2024-04-02 |title=President Biden is now posting into the fediverse |url=https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24119353/joe-biden-threads-mastodon-activitypub-fediverse |access-date=2024-04-03 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref> The ability to view replies from the Fediverse within Threads was added in August.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-28 |title=Threads is making fediverse replies more visible in its app |url=https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-making-fediverse-replies-more-visible-in-its-app-194543494.html |access-date=2024-09-12 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}}</ref>

===News aggregators=== In December 2023, the social magazine app Flipboard began integrating with the Fediverse by federating publisher accounts via ActivityPub. CEO Mike McCue stated the move was intended to break away from "walled garden" ecosystems, making Flipboard content discoverable and interactive for users on platforms like Mastodon.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bell |first=Karissa |title=Flipboard is moving to the fediverse |url=https://www.engadget.com/flipboard-is-moving-to-the-fediverse-170426320.html |work=Engadget |date=December 18, 2023}}</ref>

During the 2023 Reddit API controversy, the decentralized link aggregator Lemmy experienced a significant surge in growth as users sought alternatives to Reddit.<ref>{{cite news |last=Eddy |first=Max |title=Lemmy and Kbin: The Best Reddit Alternatives? |url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/lemmy-and-kbin-the-best-reddit-alternatives |work=PCMag |date=July 25, 2023}}</ref> The platform saw its monthly active user count rise from approximately 1,000 to over 66,000 within weeks of the protests, exacerbated by Reddit's decision to temporarily ban communities and users promoting the migration to Fediverse alternatives.<ref>{{cite news |last=Purdy |first=Kevin |title=Reddit creates "Streisand effect" by banning r/LemmyMigration and promoting competitors |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddit-creates-streisand-effect-by-banning-r-lemmymigration-and-promoting-competitors/ |work=Ars Technica |date=June 23, 2023}}</ref>

==Software==

=== ActivityPub === {{Further|ActivityPub#Software using ActivityPub}}   thumb|Many Fediverse platforms have applications to use them on smartphones. ActivityPub is the most widely used protocol in the Fediverse and a W3C standard. Some popular Fediverse software includes:<ref>{{Cite web |title=FediDB |url=https://fedidb.org/ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pierce |first=David |date=2023-12-19 |title=2023 in social media: the case for the fediverse |url=https://www.theverge.com/23990974/social-media-2023-fediverse-mastodon-threads-activitypub |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=The Verge |language=en}}</ref>

* Microblogging ** Mastodon ** Misskey ** Pleroma

* Image sharing/video sharing ** Pixelfed ** PeerTube * Social networking ** Friendica * Social news ** Lemmy ** Piefed * Events ** Mobilizon * Content management ** Ghost ** WordPress

=== AT Protocol ===

* Bluesky

*WhiteWind – A long-form blogging platform that allows users to write and publish posts directly to their AT Protocol repository.<ref>{{cite web |title=WhiteWind atproto blog |url=https://whtwnd.com/ |website=whtwnd.com |access-date=November 29, 2025}}</ref>

*Skylight – A Tiktok alternative with AT protocol as its connection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=2026-01-26 |title=TikTok alternative Skylight soars to 380K+ users after TikTok US deal finalized |url=https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/26/tiktok-alternative-skylight-soars-to-380k-users-after-tiktok-u-s-deal-finalized/ |access-date=2026-01-28 |website=TechCrunch |language=en-US}}</ref>

*Smoke Signal – A decentralized event management and RSVP application.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gerakines |first=Nick |title=Smoke Signal Events |url=https://atprotocol.dev/content/files/2024/09/ATProtocolDev-Tech-Talk-Smoke-Signal-Events-2024-09-05.pdf |publisher=ATProtocol Dev |date=September 5, 2024 |access-date=November 29, 2025}}</ref>

=== Others ===

; Social networking * GNU social – One of the earliest Fediverse projects, historically using the OStatus protocol to enable federation before the widespread adoption of ActivityPub.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tilley |first=Sean |title=A quick guide to The Free Network |url=https://wedistribute.org/2017/09/a-quick-guide-to-the-free-network/ |publisher=We Distribute |date=September 24, 2017}}</ref> * Diaspora – A decentralized social network that uses its own custom protocol.

; Content management * Drupal (via third-party plugin)<ref>{{cite web |title=ActivityPub |url=https://www.drupal.org/project/activitypub |publisher=Drupal.org |date=February 23, 2019}}</ref> * WordPress (via official plugin)<ref>{{cite web |last=Pfefferle |first=Matthias |title=ActivityPub |url=https://wordpress.org/plugins/activitypub/ |publisher=WordPress.org |access-date=November 28, 2022}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Free and open-source software|Internet}}

* {{Annotated link |Comparison of software and protocols for distributed social networking}} * {{Annotated link |Distributed social network}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== {{sister project links| d=y|c=category:Fediverse|b=no|n=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|q=Fediverse|display=Fediverse}} * 2022. [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2204.12709.pdf Toxicity in the Decentralized Web and the Potential for Model Sharing] * 2021. [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2110.13500.pdf Exploring Content Moderation in the Decentralised Web: The Pleroma Case] * 2019. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1648536 The disinformation landscape and the lockdown of social platforms] {{free access}} * 2019. [https://arxiv.org/abs/1909.05801 Challenges in the Decentralised Web: The Mastodon Case] * 2018. [https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.09292 Recommending Users: Whom to Follow on Federated Social Networks] * 2018. [https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.05013 Multi-task dialog act and sentiment recognition on Mastodon] * 2015. [http://twentysix.fibreculturejournal.org/fcj-190-building-a-better-twitter-a-study-of-the-twitter-alternatives-gnu-social-quitter-rstat-us-and-twister/ FCJ-190 Building a Better Twitter: A Study of the Twitter Alternatives GNU social, Quitter, rstat.us, and Twister] {{free access}} * 2015. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305115604338 The Case for Alternative Social Media] {{open access}}

Category:Fediverse Category:Microblogging Category:Free and open-source software Category:Social media Category:Social networks Category:2008 introductions