What is the Fediverse?

The Fediverse (a combination of "federation" and "universe") is a network of interconnected, independently operated social media servers that communicate with each other using open protocols. Unlike centralized platforms like Twitter or Facebook where one company controls everything, the Fediverse consists of thousands of independently operated servers (called "instances") that can interact with each other.

How the Fediverse Works in Social Media:

The Fediverse allows users from different platforms (like Mastodon, PeerTube, or Pixelfed) to follow, comment, and share each other’s content, even if they’re on different apps. This gives users more control over their data and content moderation. The Fediverse operates on open-source software platforms. Each platform specializes in different types of content (microblogging, photo sharing, video hosting), but they all communicate using the same protocol, primarily ActivityPub.

For example, someone on Mastodon (a Twitter-like platform) can interact with a photo shared on Pixelfed (similar to Instagram) without creating a separate account.