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Into the Fediverse (what is it & personal experience)
10 months ago
General
With the new wave of people migrating from meta's services into fediverse (mastodon and others), I thought I'd write about my own experiences since I've been on there for 2 years now.
What is it?
Fediverse is a network of different social platforms all connected to each other, such as mastodon. You can follow anyone on the fediverse with your one account, the most popular option is to use mastodon to follow others, so you get twitter-like feed updates on other posts like gallery uploads from pixelfed, stream notifications from owncast etc.
The most difficult part to understand is that Fedi is not owned by a company, each instance/server belongs to those who host them and most of the platforms used are FOSS (free and open software) which are funded with non-profits (there are exceptions though!). It exists because it provides value to people being able to connect with people, and that is why there is also no (corporate) ads. Each instance is moderated by themselves, and they also moderate which other instances they will connect with (to block spam or malicious parties). Users can also migrate their accounts to different instances if they're unhappy how their current instance is ran.
Some platforms on the Fedi:
- Mastodon: Micro-blogging
- Pixelfex: Gallery
- Owncast: Streaming, with notifications & chat authentication with fedi
- Peertube: Video sharing
- There are many more for blogs & journals to event planning etc.
Why it's not actually complicated
From user perspective you just make an account, read the rules & follow people you want to follow. Just like you would on any other site on the internet, except you can follow and communicate with all platforms and instances that are connected to the Fediverse, not just the one you're in.
What I've gathered is that people use the word "complicated" because Fedi is by design available & fair to all sorts of different people, similar to how lgbt people are "complicated" to some folks (as in not actually complicated but it's said for entirely different reasons). Fedi is designed in a way that prevents a single or small group of people from controlling or enforcing things on all users. So "being complicated" has nothing to do with the user experience itself.
Furries in the Fediverse
Since everything is hosted by someone, obviously there are a lot of furry instances ran by furries. Many which are open to make an account at, some which you have to ask first. Something you should consider is that if you are making an account to share private posts (only visible to followers) and you care to keep them as private as possible, you should consider if the host is trustworthy (maybe someone you know or someone you know can vouch for), even though almost any furry admin is guaranteed to be more trustworthy than twitter xD But if that's not a concern, just pick any instance that has a relatable name to start with (and read the rules, though most furry instances are very similar).
Here's a list of furry fediverse instances:
https://furryfediverse.org/
Some etiquette
There is a general expectation (from other users) to include alt-text with images, use content warnings on sensitive topics and write an introduction to pin in your profile. Hashtags work as topics, which you can follow & search. Creators are welcome to advertise their crafts, while big corporate advertising is typically blocked as spam. You are also expected to moderate your own experience, there is no algorithm that reads you and no company that's trying to cater to you, filter away topics and words you don't want to see and follow the people you want updates from, ask others for suggestions.
- - - - -
My experience
I've had an overwhelmingly positive experience so far, the place is lively and there's a lot of interesting topics & conversations, perhaps because there's a lot of furries, linux users, demosceners and other interesting people doing crafts, urbex photography, sharing thoughts and other stuff that interests me (probably my bubble here and there's plenty more though). I think the main highlight is that people are free to be themselves and write in their own personal ways, not needing to dodge banned words or topics. I've mainly used Mastodon, but I'm considering to setup a Pixelfed for art posts when I have the time to do it. I also use Owncast to host my own stream now and the integration to share stream notifications, like an authenticate in chat via Fedi is a very fun and useful feature.
Thoughts
I'd like to see furries utilizing the private posting features more like they do on twitter, mastodon allows you to do follow requests and set visibility per post (pm, followers, link-only, public). A lot of things have also changed and improved over the course of two years, especially seeing different new platforms getting made and refined is nice. Also a nice feeling to finally have a setup that has potential to last for a long time and not get enshittified like all the places that are looking to make most money or have most political power, I'm kinda extremely tired of the world situation where everything is just moneymoneymoneyy and obvious far-right leaning changes.
Follow me on the Fediverse
My mastodon: @Neotheta@finfur.net
Stream notifications: @live@stream.neotheta.fi
Stream page: https://stream.neotheta.fi/
If social media is not your thing you don't have to use it though!
-Neo
What is it?
Fediverse is a network of different social platforms all connected to each other, such as mastodon. You can follow anyone on the fediverse with your one account, the most popular option is to use mastodon to follow others, so you get twitter-like feed updates on other posts like gallery uploads from pixelfed, stream notifications from owncast etc.
The most difficult part to understand is that Fedi is not owned by a company, each instance/server belongs to those who host them and most of the platforms used are FOSS (free and open software) which are funded with non-profits (there are exceptions though!). It exists because it provides value to people being able to connect with people, and that is why there is also no (corporate) ads. Each instance is moderated by themselves, and they also moderate which other instances they will connect with (to block spam or malicious parties). Users can also migrate their accounts to different instances if they're unhappy how their current instance is ran.
Some platforms on the Fedi:
- Mastodon: Micro-blogging
- Pixelfex: Gallery
- Owncast: Streaming, with notifications & chat authentication with fedi
- Peertube: Video sharing
- There are many more for blogs & journals to event planning etc.
Why it's not actually complicated
From user perspective you just make an account, read the rules & follow people you want to follow. Just like you would on any other site on the internet, except you can follow and communicate with all platforms and instances that are connected to the Fediverse, not just the one you're in.
What I've gathered is that people use the word "complicated" because Fedi is by design available & fair to all sorts of different people, similar to how lgbt people are "complicated" to some folks (as in not actually complicated but it's said for entirely different reasons). Fedi is designed in a way that prevents a single or small group of people from controlling or enforcing things on all users. So "being complicated" has nothing to do with the user experience itself.
Furries in the Fediverse
Since everything is hosted by someone, obviously there are a lot of furry instances ran by furries. Many which are open to make an account at, some which you have to ask first. Something you should consider is that if you are making an account to share private posts (only visible to followers) and you care to keep them as private as possible, you should consider if the host is trustworthy (maybe someone you know or someone you know can vouch for), even though almost any furry admin is guaranteed to be more trustworthy than twitter xD But if that's not a concern, just pick any instance that has a relatable name to start with (and read the rules, though most furry instances are very similar).
Here's a list of furry fediverse instances:
https://furryfediverse.org/
Some etiquette
There is a general expectation (from other users) to include alt-text with images, use content warnings on sensitive topics and write an introduction to pin in your profile. Hashtags work as topics, which you can follow & search. Creators are welcome to advertise their crafts, while big corporate advertising is typically blocked as spam. You are also expected to moderate your own experience, there is no algorithm that reads you and no company that's trying to cater to you, filter away topics and words you don't want to see and follow the people you want updates from, ask others for suggestions.
- - - - -
My experience
I've had an overwhelmingly positive experience so far, the place is lively and there's a lot of interesting topics & conversations, perhaps because there's a lot of furries, linux users, demosceners and other interesting people doing crafts, urbex photography, sharing thoughts and other stuff that interests me (probably my bubble here and there's plenty more though). I think the main highlight is that people are free to be themselves and write in their own personal ways, not needing to dodge banned words or topics. I've mainly used Mastodon, but I'm considering to setup a Pixelfed for art posts when I have the time to do it. I also use Owncast to host my own stream now and the integration to share stream notifications, like an authenticate in chat via Fedi is a very fun and useful feature.
Thoughts
I'd like to see furries utilizing the private posting features more like they do on twitter, mastodon allows you to do follow requests and set visibility per post (pm, followers, link-only, public). A lot of things have also changed and improved over the course of two years, especially seeing different new platforms getting made and refined is nice. Also a nice feeling to finally have a setup that has potential to last for a long time and not get enshittified like all the places that are looking to make most money or have most political power, I'm kinda extremely tired of the world situation where everything is just moneymoneymoneyy and obvious far-right leaning changes.
Follow me on the Fediverse
My mastodon: @Neotheta@finfur.net
Stream notifications: @live@stream.neotheta.fi
Stream page: https://stream.neotheta.fi/
If social media is not your thing you don't have to use it though!
-Neo
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10985713/
And I largely share your impression of it and the people using it. I think out of all options, it's the only one that makes sense to actually use and see improve, rather than turn into another capitalist hellhole.
I think one of the larger barriers is that Mastodon isn't exactly blue sky or Twitter, but something a bit more condensed, a bit more local - the lack of algorithm is a disadvantage for some, who want their discovery to be automatic and curated by machines.
And then I have also seen that, especially for accounts of larger reach, purists react quite hostile towards some topics, like BlueSky, using propitiatory software or even things like wine or proton. I haven't experienced this myself yet - and I don't think I will, because I am basically in a furry- and gamedev- sub-bubble for the most part - but it is definitely present and something we may need to look into as Fediverse moderators going forward.
I've had some comments of people declaring their preferences (sometimes quite bluntly) but I think it's just that, those comments can be experienced in a way that it feels like critique or threat to your own if you're the type of person to prefer always pleasing others and never seeing any differences between people. But I think all the cases were pretty obvious of not having actual ill intent, it's just people whos social skills aren't spectacular trying to be part of conversations. I can recognize sometimes doing that myself xD
Yeah, as I said, I haven't actually experienced itself and I have only seen rather large reach people on the platform complain about it - not sure how much of that is people misinterpreting opinions as personal attacks, but I can imagine if it happens a lot due to reach, it can feel like that. So in the end, I don't think it's super important, just maybe something to keep an eye on. And yeah, people's social skills and the lack of social signifies in text are, as always, a bit of hindrance.
The way a friend thought about it though is that an instance is just like a subreddit, while the protocol/base is the main site, Reddit. This makes things less confusing and easier to understand. I do hope the fediverse gets more traction though. I may not use Mastodon or others (seeing as I mostly just use Discord and none of my friends see eager enough to jump ship to Matrix), but I do think it's the future, at least one that can coexist without companies getting in the way.
You can literally roll dice on the mastodon instance, ask a friend on their fav or approach it with a specific need: maybe it's writing really long posts or allowing nsfw, then you roll some dice on the remaining less options that provide those.
I often also use #scalie and #anthro. I'll have to try #furryart. o:
Tbh #mastoart and #art seem interchangeably generic. xD Either won't be about "what I draw" and is only ever a support tag for search combos.
Are there people only interested in whatever art specifically posted on just Mastodon? #mastoart always seemed too weirdly specific to me admittedly.
Honestly though, I don't understand why people don't switch over to decentralized open source stuff. It would solve most complaints I see that people have about mainstream stuff, and the only complaints I've heard against it are "it's complicated," which you already addressed, or "not enough people use/support it," which is an entirely self-inflicted problem. That problem would go away if people started using it.
And the thing with Fedi being pretty much "what we need", well.. I've seen so many situations where people complain about how "something something and it'd be nice if..." and they get offered exactly the solution they need and yet they refuse because "ugh.... [insert useless excuse]". I think it might have something to do with the fact that once you have proof things could be better, it suddenly feels like a big responsibility to do "the right thing" (and people don't want to do anything) or it opens so many questions of "how many other things could be better then", scary new view on existence. Some people go into complete denial mode if confronted more, belittle the meaning of everything. And it's all so dramatic over a tiny thing. But it's easy life giving up one's ability to make a small difference when you could just complain it's someone else's fault instead (in many cases complaining is a good first step but eventually they should become actions, at least tiny steps).
There's no perfect solution with humans, but there are good solutions.
GG M4T3!
-Everton