{"id":20465,"date":"2020-01-29T22:59:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T22:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/friendica"},"modified":"2026-10-03T09:09:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T09:09:47","slug":"friendica","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/friendica","title":{"rendered":"Friendica"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Friendica-1.png\" alt=\"Friendica\" class=\"boxpad alignright\" style=\"margin-top:0\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Friendica<\/strong> is free and open-source software for creating and using a decentralised social network. Its users can publish text, share images, comment and maintain contacts through independent servers that communicate with one another and with other compatible services.<\/p>\n<p>It is part of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/fediverse\">Fediverse<\/a><\/strong>, a collection of networks and servers connected through shared protocols. There is no single Friendica website where everyone must register: each server has its own administration and participation terms.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Origin and development of Friendica<\/h2>\n<p>Friendica began in 2010 with the work of Mike Macgirvin. Its development continued as a community project, with contributions from people working on the code, translations, documentation and maintenance.<\/p>\n<p>The code is distributed under version 3 of the GNU Affero General Public License, available in its <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/friendica\/friendica\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">repository<\/a>. This licence allows the software to be used, studied, modified and redistributed under its terms.<\/p>\n<p>Being free software does not mean that every server is free of charge or operates without costs. The software project and the services hosting it are different things.<\/p>\n<h2>How its servers work<\/h2>\n<p>Each installation of Friendica constitutes a server or node. It can be managed by an individual, an association or another organisation responsible for hosting, updates and administration.<\/p>\n<p>An account is created on one of these servers, but its contacts do not have to belong to the same one. Federation allows compatible servers to exchange posts and replies without everyone depending on a single provider.<\/p>\n<p>Choosing a server matters: its operators set the rules, manage accounts and moderate content. They can also restrict connections with other servers. Decentralisation does not mean an absence of administration or mandatory communication between all participants.<\/p>\n<h2>Its relationship with ActivityPub and other networks<\/h2>\n<p>Friendica incorporates <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/activitypub\">ActivityPub<\/a><\/strong>, a protocol for exchanging social activity between Fediverse services. This compatibility enables a Friendica account to follow and interact with accounts on networks such as <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/mastodon\">Mastodon<\/a><\/strong>, provided the servers&#8217; settings and policies allow it.<\/p>\n<p>It also supports other protocols, such as diaspora*, and can bring together content from RSS or Atom feeds. Connections with external services may require add-ons and additional configuration.<\/p>\n<p>Interoperability does not turn every network into the same application. The presentation of posts, available features and certain interactions can vary between services. A connection through an add-on should not be confused with native federation through ActivityPub either.<\/p>\n<h2>What Friendica allows users to do<\/h2>\n<p>Friendica combines publishing, conversation and contact organisation features. Its capabilities include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Publish content:<\/strong> share long-form text, links, images and other compatible materials.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Join conversations:<\/strong> comment on posts and reply to contacts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Organise contacts:<\/strong> group people into lists to manage reading or select recipients.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Manage visibility:<\/strong> choose the audience for posts through access controls.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Share events:<\/strong> communicate activities and gatherings.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Follow different sources:<\/strong> bring together contacts&#8217; posts and content from compatible sources in the reading stream.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Mentions allow users to address other accounts, while hashtags help identify topics. Not every post is restricted to a group: posts can be public or addressed to selected recipients.<\/p>\n<p>Visibility controls do not by themselves amount to end-to-end encryption. When sharing information, both the recipients and the servers involved in its distribution need to be considered.<\/p>\n<h2>How to start using Friendica<\/h2>\n<p>The simplest option is to choose a server accepting new accounts. The <a href=\"https:\/\/dir.friendica.social\/servers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Friendica server directory<\/a> helps users find options; before registering, it is worth reviewing the rules, the community&#8217;s language and the service terms.<\/p>\n<p>There is no need to administer a server to use the network. Those who need to manage their own installation can deploy Friendica on compatible hosting and take responsibility for updates, backups and moderation.<\/p>\n<p>The choice between these options depends on the control needed and the resources available. Running an installation offers management capabilities, but also adds technical and organisational responsibilities.<\/p>\n<h2>Funding and community participation<\/h2>\n<p>Friendica&#8217;s development relies on community contributions. People can help by programming, translating, documenting, reporting issues or helping others use the software.<\/p>\n<p>Each server must cover its own infrastructure and maintenance costs. Its operators may fund these through their own resources, donations or other service terms; there is no single mandatory economic model for the entire network.<\/p>\n<p>This separation allows different communities to maintain their own communication spaces and participate in a wider network without depending on a single central platform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Friendica is, how its servers work and its relationship with the Fediverse and ActivityPub. Features, registration and community participation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":79427,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[365],"class_list":["post-20465","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-fediverso-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/20465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=20465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}