Fediverse
The Fediverse is a giant Network of Social Media Platforms.
Imagine
Imagine Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Co were all part of one giant network. That's basically what the Fediverse is, except the parts are less well known, free software & federated replacements to those.
In the Fediverse you can use your "Twitter" account to interact with "Facebook" users, share "Instagram" posts, comment under "Youtube" videos, listen to "Bandcamp" music, follow "Wordpress" blogs, take part in "reddit" discussions and more.
What are Fediverse projects?
Main category: Category: What are Fediverse projects?
Fediverse projects are the different software parts of the Fediverse. Many of them are replacements for more well known Social Media platforms.
So e.g. Mastodon is like Twitter, Pixelfed like Instagram, Friendica like Facebook and so on.
Click the category link above to learn more about the different software projects.
What is "Federation"?
The email allegory
Everybody knows you don't need to be on the same email Provider to communicate via emails. You can send a mail from riseup.net to gmail.com and the other way around. That's about the same way that "federation" in the Fediverse works. Federation just means that different or decentral servers or instances can communicate with each other via a protocol. Just like email uses POP, IMAP or SMTP protocols for federation, the Fediverse uses mostly ActivityPub.
Further Reading
How do I get an account?
Getting started with your Fediverse account
Best practices
Fediverse - the advanced page on the Fediverse
External Links
Fediverse Guides
The Fediverse: the distributed social network
Guide to the Fediverse
DE: Fediverse – So geht gutes Social Media
DE: Das Fediverse