Talk:What is the Fediverse?
Is "identity" the proper term?
I never heard or used the term when joining the Fediverse.
I have only used words like "mention" or "handle", does anyone agree me with me here or is an alternative possible?
--Craftplacer (talk) 16:18, 24 December 2021 (CET)
Hm, good question. Personally I'd consider a handle just to be the @...@... and an identity to be the whole profile, but you're right, I haven't seen the word used by any Fediverse software either.
So maybe we should rewrite it to:
The handle is the unique adress under which your profile is found. The profile is hosted on one of many servers, also called instances.
--User:Paula 17:46, 24 December 2021 (CET)
I re-read the context, and even then, "identity" could just be called your "account" like everyone else does. From a technical perspective you're an "user".
--Craftplacer (talk) 21:24, 24 December 2021 (CET)
Good point. I changed it.
--Paula (talk) 10:01, 25 December 2021 (CET)
Editing "Imagine" and adding "Optimiztion" section.
User:Dorian please don't completely change a section without talking about it first.
I preserved your text here, let's talk about it.
Imagine commenting on a Youtube video from your Twitter account. Or the comments on your latest selfie being a conversation between friends on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Blogger. As if Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Co were all part of one giant network. That's basically what the Fediverse is, except there is no central "Facebook" place or "Twitter" site. Instead those things are made up of many small groups and websites who decided to communicate and exchange posts, videos, pictures, and comments with each other.
The Fediverse is, by and large, the collective attempt of free software coders to create and offer an alternative to those platforms in a way that is less manipulative and ad focused.
Optimization
Traditional social media platforms operate either by generating revenue from the sales of ads or the sale of personal data to third parties. This means that their primary concern is optimizing their platform to generate more ad sales or salable data. The structure of the platform and it's features then always lean towards increasing anything that also increases revenue. Does the presence of pink ponies somehow draw more views (which are tied to ad views)? Then expect to see more pink ponies. Do you engage with the platform more frequently and for longer periods of time when you are angry? Then the platform has an incentive to make sure you are angry as often as possible.
Fediverse platforms by contrast are typically run by individuals and communities. Federation means that communities can create their own space and also interact with the wider internet at the same time. This means platforms are more likely to prioritize users and their needs. It is a structure that leans towards optimizing for fruitful and healthy human interaction rather than corporate profits.