Fediverse for writers/readers.

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At the time I write this, everyone is buzzing about the new social media thing happening at the moment. I’m not at all interested. I’m still on social media, but I will never willingly join mainstream social media again. I’ll crosspost to anything that connects with whatever platform I’m using, but I’m just not trying it. I’m sticking with the Fediverse, and I made this decision way back when Twitter was ruined in 2022.

Now, I spend my time reading blogs, participating in forums and email lists, and engaging with others in a social media sphere called the Fediverse.

In 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for a lump sum of money I will never have, which is why I’ve moved platforms completely. Even if you don’t have a Fediverse account, you can still follow me there via RSS feed.

My decisions to move completely hinged on the fact that mean people soon owned my data. What’s even more upsetting is [the fact that tech gets worse by the day

I vowed, never again, to join a platform that was venture backed, could cage me in, or withhold my data from me. Even if I change platforms, my data should come with me and redirects should happen so nobody loses track of me. I shouldn’t lose an audience because you want to chase dollar signs. I’m done playing that game, and, I’m staying in the Fediverse. But first, what is the Fediverse anyway?

An overview of the Fediverse.

Since Mastodon is what most people know when they mention the Fediverse, To understand Mastodon and how it works, you should know that even though it’s a different platform, it still operates like Twitter before Twitter died. It’s a social media platform that allows users to post short status messages or lengthy statuses depending on where you sign up. You can follow users, direct message them, reply to posts, and post media such as images and videos as well as audio clips.

Mastodon is one small part of a connected software ecosystem called the Fediverse. Think of the Fediverse like a bridge that connects multiple platforms together by a protocol called Activity Pub.

If you’re interested in reading the history of Mastodon/Fediverse, this timeline is a good start.

View one Fediverse Wiki here.

Mastodon is one of the Twitter versions of the Fediverse. Mastodon operates on decentralized technology. This means, for example, you can join any kind of Mastodon server you want and still talk to a global network. There’s a ton of open servers to choose from. It’s much like email. When you sign up for an email address, you get the ability to talk to anybody with an email address. The Fediverse operates the same way. You can interact with anybody on the Fediverse.

For instance, I can talk to anybody on Go to Social, similar to other Microblogging things, Friendica, Facebook alternative, Write Freely, Medium alternative, Bookwyrm, Goodreads alternative, PeerTube, YouTube alternative, or PixelFed, Instagram alternative and more services different than Mastodon. Anybody can follow and talk to me no matter where I am at in the Fediverse.

How the Fediverse broadly works.

Fediverse servers, known as instances, are like independently grown towns. You can join a town, and that town can talk to other towns, but each town has their own rules if you’d like to become a member of the town, or instance. You can try a Hometown instance with more features and characters. There’s instances for a number of topics, from books to craftsThere are many more instances to browse and join. If you don’t like an instance, you can always move to a different instance and still talk to everybody else. You don’t have to stay on one instance or even platform. For example, you can move from Mastodon to Go to Social.

One compelling example of the Fediverse is The Website League where you can join a smaller community instead of a town square.

If you post publicly, others will see your posts through a process called Federation. If an instance federates with your instance, then your message will show up on any instance that federates, or links with, your instance. If an instance chooses not to federate with another instance for any reason, your posts will not show up to their users.

To mention users on instances different from yours, you would include their complete handle, including, domain, in a post. It’s like email.

For example, to mention me on any instance, you would write, including the beginning @ sign, @weirdwriter@micro.blog.

Some instances have closed registrations to keep hateful people out. Others have open instances. Even if you can’t find an open instance, you can still follow people via RSS with a lot of apps.

This guide is a really good starting point for learning about communities, or instances.

If you’re a writer looking for a new home, the Fediverse is perfect for you if you like to connect with interesting people and make new friends. Below, I have included some guides to Mastodon and some instances designed for writers across the whole Fediverse.

Before you pick an instance, it’s worth noting their rules and how often they federate, or connect with, other instances. If you’d like a bigger audience, try picking an instance that doesn’t block a lot of instances. If you’d like more of an insular community, and are not looking for a big audience, pick an instance that doesn’t federate with a lot of servers and blocks a lot of instances. It’s all up to you! If you join an instance and then later decide to move to a new instance, you can migrate your account and move your followers with you.

Below, you’ll find guides and a few instances to try. Fedi Garden is the best place to start for finding smaller instances that are well moderated

This external guide has a lot of getting started resources.