{"id":20441,"date":"2020-01-29T18:47:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T18:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/fediverso"},"modified":"2026-10-03T09:09:41","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T09:09:41","slug":"fediverse","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/fediverse","title":{"rendered":"Fediverse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Fediverse\" Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fediverse<\/strong> is the collection of independent social services and servers that can communicate through open federation protocols. A person can have an account on one server and follow, mention or exchange content with accounts hosted elsewhere, even when they use different software.<\/p>\n

Its name combines federation and universe. It does not refer to a company, a single social network or a central platform, but to an ecosystem made up of multiple communities and providers<\/strong>. Each server retains its own administration, rules and data, while shared protocols allow them to connect.<\/p>\n

Mastodon is one of its best-known services, but the fediverse also includes systems for photography, video, publishing, forums, reading<\/strong> and other forms of digital communication.<\/p>\n\n

How federation works<\/h2>\n

A fediverse account is hosted on a server, commonly called an instance<\/strong>. Its address usually follows a pattern similar to @user@server.example<\/code>, identifying both the person and the domain responsible for the account.<\/p>\n

When an account follows another account on a different server, the two systems exchange the information needed to deliver posts and interactions. The model resembles email: an address hosted by one provider can send messages to an address managed by another because both use compatible protocols<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

There is no universal database<\/strong> containing the entire fediverse. Each server mainly knows about the accounts, posts and conversations with which its users have interacted. A search, thread or interaction count can therefore produce different results depending on the instance from which it is viewed.<\/p>\n

Protocols and interoperability<\/h2>\n

Federation relies on specifications that describe how accounts, posts, follows and other activities are represented and transmitted. The predominant protocol<\/strong> is ActivityPub<\/a>, published as a W3C Recommendation in 2018.<\/p>\n

ActivityPub covers communication between applications and servers, as well as exchanges between servers. Different projects can share basic activities<\/strong>, such as following an account or receiving a post, without using the same interface or offering the same features.<\/p>\n

Compatibility is not always complete<\/strong>. Each application implements parts of the protocol and may add its own content types, permissions or interactions. A poll, edit or moderation action available in one service may be shown in a limited way or not reproduced by another. OStatus, which formed part of the fediverse’s earlier development, was used by older projects and lost prominence as ActivityPub became more widely adopted.<\/p>\n

Servers and moderation<\/h2>\n

Each instance has an administration responsible<\/strong> for its infrastructure, account registration and usage policies. Some accept users openly, while others serve a particular community, organization or language. Multiple servers may run the same software but have different rules and operators.<\/p>\n

The fediverse is not a space without moderation or censorship<\/strong>. Administrators can remove content, suspend accounts and limit or block communication with other servers. These decisions let each community enforce its standards, but they can also fragment conversations and make the same profile or content unavailable from some instances.<\/p>\n

Decentralization distributes control among operators, but it does not remove the need for trust. The server hosting an account processes its data and may shut down, change its terms or experience an incident. Options for moving a profile, followers or content depend on the software and do not amount to complete portability.<\/p>\n

Fediverse services<\/h2>\n

The ecosystem includes specialized applications that can be installed on many servers. Federation allows parts of their communities to interact while each service retains its own design and purpose.<\/p>\n