The fediverse, or the “federated universe,” is a decentralized social network of independent servers that can connect and communicate with each other.

Traditional social networks, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, are centralized platforms. This means users can only communicate within that network, and the platforms maintain full control over access to user data.

The fediverse, on the other hand, uses a “federated” approach. Services like Mastodon and Pixelfed are built on a shared protocol called ActivityPub that allows for cross-platform communication and interaction. Federated services operate independently, with their own rules and moderation policies, but can still exchange information and interact seamlessly.

Services in the fediverse share a method of authenticating accounts. This allows users on different servers to interact with each other as if they were on the same platform.