Friends in the Fediverse

In recent years, my dislike about various social media platforms continued to increase, until in 2022 I finally moved away from the big platforms. Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Twitter/X, and TikTok all pose various risks to online safety, privacy, and overall morale.

I feel very fortunate to have come to be part of the Fediverse. The Fediverse is a decentralized network of social media platforms which communicate through a common technology called ActivityPub. What ActivityPub does is allow different platforms and therefore social media experiences and sites to exist independently and to share information when they so choose to.

If the unfortunate case happens that two sites have such different terms of service or stated goals that they no longer wish to interoperate, one or both can defederate from the other. This allows sites which have such juxtaposed views, or in the event that a particular individual user on a different site becomes untenable to one or more users on a different site, they can be blocked, muted, or even disconnected. The Fediverse is large enough that it is unlikely that two defederated instances will permanently hinder connectivity or bifurcate the network; defederation is a natural part (to some degree) of federation in general, and the mesh network allows for multiple pathways for wanted traffic to traverse.

Please join me on the Fediverse. If you use Mastodon, Pleroma, Firefish, or Misskey, all of these and more will be able to find my account. Find this blog site via its user at @polymath@liberaljourney.com. You’ll be able to see my new entries on my Journey and you’ll be able to comment and interact with the posts as well.

The Fediverse is the only way to interact with this site and my Journey. Come join us. The Fediverse grows every day, and the lack of force-fed algorithm and zero advertisements just might help you on your journey as well.