Another article on the Fediverse that seems to miss the mark, written by someone who may not fully grasp what it actually is. They've gathered a group of individuals who also may not be familiar with the Fediverse. However, I do have some thoughts on this.
Having had plenty of experience in social media marketing, I can say that the worst question a marketer can ask is, 'Why should I care about [x]?' If you have to ask that question, then it's best to continue not caring and focus on something else.
The Fediverse isn't designed to cater to marketers; if marketers choose to be a part of it, they should come with the intention of serving the Fediverse.
Why? Well, because the ultimate goal of marketing is to connect with people. If you view the Fediverse as a tool solely for achieving your own goals, you're bound to fail. However, if you recognize that this technology is all about fostering connections, then there may be some hope for you.
Another point worth mentioning is that some journalists have a tendency to label the Fediverse as Web3, which is simply inaccurate and can damage their credibility. Let's put an end to that misconception. The Fediverse has no association with cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFTs, or any of that realm. In fact, many individuals on the Fediverse openly oppose those concepts.
So, to all the journalists out there, please refrain from referring to the Fediverse as Web3 and let's ensure accuracy prevails.
I've always found it interesting that when journalists write about the Fediverse, they tend to reach out to CEOs of social media agencies instead of, you know, actual users of the Fediverse. It's a bit puzzling because social media agencies and big influencers aren't really active here, and neither are marketers.
Speaking of which, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners probably knows about the Fediverse as much as I know about ad monetization on TikTok - which is to say, not much at all.
Just wanted to share some exciting news with you all.
My colleague, the talented @reiver, is currently hard at work on an awesome project called #PostFreely. It's actually a fork of the popular #WriteFreely blogging platform.
Together with other brilliant developers, they're brainstorming a bunch of potential new features for PostFreely. I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how our beloved Fediverse blogging platforms keep evolving. Pretty awesome, right?
@liaizon@reiver@mathew@whylamb Hey there! Just wanted to let you know that in my initial post, I made it clear that #PostFreely is actually a fork of #WriteFreely. And as you mentioned, none of this would've been possible without the amazing work of @matt.
@liaizon Just wanted to clarify that I didn't take your comment as criticism at all. But, just like you, I really want to emphasize how much I appreciate @matt and his amazing work. It's a shame I forgot to mention @mathew and @whylamb in the initial post, but I'm glad @reiver gave them a well-deserved shoutout. Thanks for understanding!
Wow! It's astonishing to see how little Sprout Social understands about the Fediverse in their recent blog post aimed at helping marketers comprehend decentralized social media.
They claim that the Fediverse is similar to the Metaverse, but in reality, they couldn't be more dissimilar apart from the common "-verse" in their names. The only platform, Immers Space, attempting to bridge the Fediverse and Metaverse is currently very niche. It's disheartening that Sprout Social fails to acknowledge this crucial distinction.
To make matters worse, Sprout Social mistakenly associates the Fediverse with blockchain technology. But let me set the record straight – popular platforms like Mastodon and Firefish don't utilize blockchain in any way. Finding a Fediverse server that actually uses blockchain is like searching for a needle in a haystack, with the largest one having a meager 79 active users. It's clear that Sprout Social needs to do their homework on this front.
Furthermore, Sprout Social claims that many Fediverse networks are guided by DAOs, but where is the evidence? The platforms people actually use are not governed by any DAO. As someone who is familiar with the server firefish.social, I can confirm that it certainly doesn't rely on a DAO for its operations.
It's incredibly misleading for Sprout Social to include Steemit, Lens Protocol, and Hive Social in their list of Fediverse platforms. These platforms may dabble in cryptocurrency nonsense, but they do not employ ActivityPub or any decentralized protocols like Diaspora, OStatus, DRFN, or anything else that truly enables genuine federation within those social networks.
Perhaps Sprout Social could gain valuable insights into the true nature of the Fediverse if they paid attention to the "Fedi" in "Fediverse" – federation. Only platforms that facilitate real federation among multiple servers can be considered part of the Fediverse. Any platform that lacks this fundamental aspect, despite their claims, simply does not belong.
If Sprout Social plans on capitalizing on Fediverse-related features for their software, they should seriously reconsider their approach – and they should do it quickly!
Well, it seems that Sprout Social's confusing blog post demonstrates that the Fediverse has reached a point where some individuals who may not truly have expertise on the subject are now proclaiming themselves as experts.
In simpler terms, "Fediverse" has now become a buzzword like "Web 2.0," "the cloud," and "A.I."
It won't be long before everyone and their dog will claim to be developing a Fediverse "app" or "site" – but it's important to note that not everything that is created will necessarily be a genuine part of the Fediverse. If there's no federation, it's not part of the Fediverse.
If I were in a position of authority at Buffer, and happened to stumble upon Sprout Social's problematic blog post on the Fediverse, I couldn't help but feel a smidgen of excitement.
It is quite clear that Buffer comprehends the essence of the Fediverse, as evidenced by their seamless integration with Mastodon. Regrettably, this doesn't seem to be the case for Sprout Social.
After digesting the aforementioned blog post, I must admit that I personally wouldn't feel entirely confident entrusting Sprout Social with any matters related to the Fediverse. Consequently, I find myself leaning towards wholeheartedly recommending Buffer to all those dedicated social media managers who are actively participating in the Fediverse.
And guess what!? micro.blog has climbed up to become the 10th largest server on the Fediverse. It's pretty interesting to see that now we have three of the top 10 Fediverse servers that aren't Mastodon.
But hey, let's take a moment to give micro.blog the attention it deserves. It's a Tumblr-like platform, part of the #Fediverse community, and it's been around since 2017. One of the great things about it is that it allows for syndication to various other platforms like Facebook, Medium, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Flickr.
Now, here's an interesting tidbit - unlike other Fediverse services, micro.blog doesn't fall under the "free as in freedom" or "free as in beer" category. It's actually a proprietary platform that operates through subscription services. However, they do offer a 30-day free trial to give it a whirl, and after that, the base rate for a micro.blog account is $5/month.
I'm genuinely curious about what has contributed to the recent surge in user registrations on micro.blog.
Just wanted to let you know that you actually have the ability to make some adjustments to the feed algorithm for SoraSNS.
Personally, I've never been against algorithms, but I do have an issue with the whole blackbox approach that seems to be the norm for Big Social.
However, I'm really excited about the concept of Fediverse clients taking charge of the algorithmic sorting. It's definitely something worth exploring!
I must say, I haven't felt this level of excitement for a Fediverse client since IceCubes!
SoraSNS is truly a gem that I've come across. Not only does it seamlessly support various Fediverse server software, even including #Firefish, but it also excels at efficiently organizing notifications. And let me tell you, the cherry on top is the amazing algorithmic sorting feature that can be tailored to suit individual preferences.
This really adds a touch of friendliness to the Fediverse, inviting those who crave a little more than just the usual reverse chronological feeds.
#Mastodon is actually turning into quite the interesting phenomenon, almost like the social media version of Doom. It's fascinating to see how people are pushing the boundaries and making it work on all sorts of devices!
Just recently, there's been a Mastodon client developed specifically for Apple II, and surprisingly, it's quite impressive. Almost all the features you'd expect on Mastodon are there; from viewing timelines and receiving notifications to even creating content warnings. The only things missing at the moment are bookmarks and polls, but I have a feeling they'll be added in no time. It's genuinely an impressive endeavor!
Who knows what will come next? I'm personally excited to see if someone manages to make Mastodon work on a Texas Instruments Ti-99/4A Ti-84 calculator. Now that would be something truly remarkable! 😉
Great blog post by @Edent regarding Mastodon search. I largely agree.
Federated search is much more complicated than search on a single site. Not only do you have to contend with the reality that posts exist on thousands upon thousands of servers, you also have to consider that each server has a different culture regarding what to do with those posts -- and whether or not they should be indexed for search.
@jakob@Edent Sure, I'm actually well aware of how federation works with YACY. It's just that you should also keep in mind the unique culture of each Fediverse server that is being indexed. While technology is important, the community aspect plays a significant role as well.