How do I get an account?

Creating an account is easy. First you choose an instance and then you register with your email and password.

How to choose an instance

• The Local instances page in this wiki helps you if you want an instance local to where you live.
• The Special interest instances page in this wiki helps you if you want an instance based on an interest of yours.
• Fediverse Observer provides some lists of instances categorized by software, sorted by the number of users by default.
• Fediverse.Party provides a list of themed instances.
• To the Fediverse! provides some lists of instances which is sorted by newest & biggest, categorized by themes & languages.
• Who To Follow For Mastodon & Pleroma provides a list of instances sorted by the number of monthly active users.

If you don't know what software you want to use yet you might want to, go back to What are Fediverse projects?.

Once you found an instance, before you create an account, make sure you get familiar with the instance rules and are okay with them.
Too few or soft rules could mean you're getting a lot of unwanted messages or posts on your local or global feeds.

Creating your account

All you need to create an account is an email address and a password. No phone number or other form of identification is needed.
You can choose any username that doesn't exist on that instance yet.
So even if someone else on the Fediverse is already called @anonymous you can still call yourself @anonymous if you're on a different instance.

Your Fediverse handle will be username@instance.domain and everybody on the Fediverse will be able to find you with that handle.

Further reading

Moving instances