What is Fediverse: Discover the next generation of social networks

Social media has quickly become one of the most transformative aspects of the advent of the internet. Internet in our daily lives: from the first experiments with chat rooms, photologist To the advent of modern applications such as Orkut, Facebook and Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. They tracked the evolution of connection speed and our computing capacity. equipment and essentially the expectations and interaction between users and the virtual world create many positive and some negative consequences in our lives.

But according to many critics, the current reality of major social platforms is part of the growing centralization phenomenon of social media. network. Gradually most of the content we create and consume online It is found on the websites of companies such as Meta, which is responsible for Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, or X (formerly Twitter), which is currently owned by North American businessman Elon Musk. For many, this centralization leaves users dependent on the decisions of the owners and sponsors of these social networks, and scandals such as data leaks, the sale of private personal information, or election tensions raise concerns about the control these platforms exercise. But is there any other alternative? It may be so, and the answer is in the Fediverse. To understand.

Fediverse and ActivityPub enable decentralized social networks

The name “Fediverso”, adapted from the combination of the English words “Federate” and “Universe”, is the nickname for a new set of social networks that can communicate using a new open source protocol, ActivityPub. While the content of a traditional social network such as Facebook is not compatible with user accounts on social networks participating in the Fediverse and the content of a competing network such as X, this distinction no longer exists.

Acting as a kind of “universal language” for social networks, ActivityPub allows each server to send data and content belonging to its users and receive anything sent by other platforms in return. Social networks based on Fediverso provide several advantages thanks to their decentralized structure: It is impossible to completely eliminate a platform, as content is freely shared between independent servers; Therefore, if the owner makes decisions that harm its users, or as it may happen, the platform has some servers blocked with X in Brazil and only one VPN, all the user has to do is switch to another and all their contents will remain intact. Additionally, Fediverso allows separation of platform and content, preventing users from having to use the same social network as their friends to see their posts.

Fediverso fans compare the system to traditional email addresses email: A Gmail user can send and receive emails For your boss who uses Microsoft Outlook without restrictions, and that’s how ActivityPub-based networks should work. Current critics of Fediverso point to problems such as the confusion that multiple different platforms and independent servers can create for users; Additionally, content disseminated on Fediverso may remain available on the Internet indefinitely, even if removed by the user, raising strong concerns about privacy. cyber bullying and illegal content, but proposals to address this issue are currently being discussed and implemented in the source code.

Alternatives already exist for major platforms

Currently, the biggest challenge for social networks based on Fediverse is that the number of active users is relatively low, especially in countries such as Brazil, where the English language is still a significant restriction. But 2023 and 2024 marked a major evolution in the adoption of alternative platforms, thanks to discussions on platforms like Reddit. Reddit announced restrictive changes to its API for third-party apps in 2023, angering its moderators and users and increasing the number. advertising and monetization, and exerting greater control over public communities. Now, unnecessary election propaganda is being carried out in April 2024. These and other concerns have caused some Fediverso platforms to become popular, and some have Brazilian servers with active users, including:

– Lemmy:

Lemmy, an alternative to Reddit, currently has over two hundred thousand active users, and with the help of creators from the Brazilian community on Reddit, there is a Portuguese-language server for sports, music, and games featuring people from different states and communities of the country. and other activities. As a source of inspiration, Lemmy is also a data collection platform Links – so users publish posts about others websites or texts of your own authorship to generate discussions with other users who can comment freely.

This style of social networking became popular thanks to its “karma” system, which allows users to upvote or downvote each comment and post. As a result, the quality of content on the homepage tends to be higher, making networks like Reddit and Lemmy great for asking for suggestions, seeking help to solve problems, discussing with people who are fans of the same topic, and many other activities. .

Mastodon:

Mastodon quickly became known as one of the first useful alternatives to X with the same features. microblogs This to feed but it brings benefits such as better controls for content filtering, no sponsored content, and more interaction between users. Some universities and government institutions already use Mastodon as their main communication tool.

Mastodon’s Brazilian servers are already highly consolidated and particularly active during periods of instability in X, and iOS and Android apps allow for easy use of the tool. But the network still lacks relevant personalities like famous artists or official company profiles, and new competitors like Bluesky and Threads could slow Mastodon’s adoption, especially in Brazil.

PixelFed:

Finally, Fediverso also has a decentralized version of Instagram: PixelFed, a social network dedicated entirely to publishing photos. The social network aims to emulate the beginnings of Instagram usage by offering a feed entirely dedicated to its users’ photos and usage. hashtags To find photos of a particular theme. Notably, the social network’s 2.0 update also supported: storiesFor those who like to post ordinary photos that disappear after a few hours, as well as those found on Instagram and WhatsApp.

Despite its advantages, the ActivityPub protocol has not yet reached a large enough audience to compete with the main social networks. Internet. However, this may soon change as platforms such as Threads and Bluesky have promised full integration with Fediverso in response to new regulatory restrictions in markets such as the European Union; This means users of platforms like Mastodon can connect and interact. Threads users have the potential to usher in a new era where social media usage is more decentralized, independent and transparent for users.