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Wanting to know what the Fediverse is? You’re in the right place.
Since Meta’s release of Instagram Threads on July 6th, the word Fediverse has been brought to more people’s attention. The Fediverse is a collection of thousands of independent social media servers that communicate with each other. It means that users on these servers can interact with each other, as if it were one network.
The most popular Fediverse server is called Mastodon (Masto). It’s essentially like a friendly version of Twitter. The purpose of these servers often revolve around photo and video sharing, livestreaming and for different clubs. Each server works different, they communicate with a common technical standard that is called ActivityPub. This means that even if you’re not on the same type of server, you can still interact as if you were.
How does the Fediverse work?
The interaction on the Fediverse works between servers of the same and different types. Each server type shows interactions as if they happened on the server. This means users won’t see anything different about posts from other types of servers. For instance, someone on a Mastodon server can follow an account on a PeerTube server. Despite Mastodon being a Twitter like server and PeerTube being a more YouTube like server, the users can still interact.
Why is it called the Fediverse?
Fediverse is called Fediverse because it is a portmanteau (the blending of two words) of “federated” and “universe”. It is a collection of federated servers that are used for web publishing and file hosting. Users can exchange short messages, blog posts, music and videos over these networks and servers. The content is federated which means that servers, once aware of content, can pass that content to another network.
Is Instagram Threads part of the Fediverse?
Meta plan for Instagram Threads to be part of the Fediverse. Threads is intended to be integrated into the Fediverse where users can communicate and connect with different servers. Meta plan for Threads to use a protocol called Activity Pub to be able to talk to other servers that support the same protocol. The Fediverse allows users of different services to inter-operate with each other without having to create an account for each sever.
If you are wanting to know more about Instagram Threads, it would definitely be worth checking out what the new application is all about here. Alternatively, if you’re trying to access Instagram Threads but your account is ‘not permitted’, follow these instructions here on how to fix.
What is ActivityPub?
ActivityPub is a protocol that is used to post on decentralised networks such as Mastodon. ActivityPub is a unified content protocol that acts as an underlying architecture for Fediverse apps/sites/platforms. Essentially, its like a common language for all posts on Fediverse (regardless of the server)
At is launch, Threads wont be supporting ActivityPub. Instagram chief has said that they weren’t able to finish the building of Activity Pub in time for launch but that it is coming.
Stay updated on our pages for any updates on Fediverse.
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