Meet Fediverse: The future of social media.
images: midjourney
Brief:
Why do Social Media platforms own the content we create?
Get the Fediverse: It's a space where we own the content we make, and folks can hop on through various social networks.
Check out some apps that are already up and running on this new tech.
Imagine if I could post on Instagram and you like it on Twitter, Linkedin, or TikTok!
Tired of ads on YouTube? Watch the same videos on Vimeo!
That's the future of social media.
On Sites: Social Networks were born closed
Social media was born from websites, right?
You slap up a selfie and those guys stash it on their servers. If you wanna peep or react, you gotta hit up their site or app for that jazz.
For a while, it was all good vibes. Billions of folks started churning out content and vibing' in a way that was as real and off-the-cuff as it'd never be on TV or the radio.
But man, with all that power, these sites went and messed with our innocence - right out of us silly users... 😢
At first, it was a bit of advertising here, a sprinkle there. Soon enough, it's like a darn "toll booth" to watch a video. Then, they started deciding what kind of stuff mattered based on who's shelling out for ads or - worse yet - their political agenda. Back to a twisted and surveilled landscape, just like TV in the pre-internet days, but WAY more intense.
Sure, we're "free" to jump ship to a new social network, as long as we ditch our buddies and crafted content.
Me, the Cartoonist, I paid that price. Since the 2022 election showdown, I bailed on my personal feeds, just sticking to the work-related ones.
A fresh version of social media is cropping up to flip the script. It used to be the realm of the geeks, you know, but when Mark Zuckerberg - the big shot behind Instagram - decided to join the fray, it became some serious grown-up playtime.
In Protocols: Social Networks become open.
New social media platforms aren't born from websites, but from protocols. So, we'll be able to engage with stuff from any network, no matter who's running it. It's kinda like having an account on Gmail and shooting messages back and forth to someone on Hotmail. We're gonna get the hang of this whole deal!
So it is today:
In the current setup, our stuff is stored on the social media servers and it's like they own it. To link up with folks, we gotta have profiles on each of these platforms. And guess what?
These platforms call the shots on what shows up in front of us, and how many ads they throw our way, and they can even just zap everything and wipe our account clean if they feel like it.
How does Fediverse work?
"Fediverse" is the idea of a "Federated Universe" of social networks. Here, our stuff is stored on SHARED servers, all "speaking the same language" - using the same open-source protocol. This way, our posts and interactions are reachable across different networks. It's like if I could post something on TikTok and my buddies could comment on Instagram, you know?
Just like in the picture above, big established networks can rub shoulders with newer, smaller ones. And we access everything through a single app, or more if we feel like it.
Advantages of Federated Networks
1. The content belongs to you, not to the platform.
No network can just erase your stuff or delete your account, and they gotta give you something back if they wanna use it to pull folks in and push ads.
If your content ain't hitting right for one platform, it's still up for grabs on all the others.
2. Portability
If the content is yours, you can take it to whichever network you prefer, just like you do with your phone number. What you post, your interactions with your audience, your username – all of that goes with you to the network you choose. And you can make money from the attention it grabs from the audience. Nowadays, only social networks and influencers get paid for that.
3. You choose the layout or the Network
Do you prefer a focus on pictures, a mix of images and text, or are you a fan of the "swipe up" action? With open protocols, you and your friends will be able to see the same content in the layout of your choice for the network.
4. Small network accesses content from the big ones
The user of a very small network will be able to access and interact with the least content of the large networks. This way we gain freedom and are no longer "hostesses" of the big techs as today.
5. More freedom and less arbitrariness
5 ads for every video you watch?
A social network filtering content based on the owner's political ideology?
Are they totally overstepping with your data?
Have the platform's algorithm changed again and your content isn't showing up anymore?
Switch networks. Any toxic relationship between networks and users flips the moment this competition kicks in.
What do we have for today?
This "Confederated Social Networks" model is just starting out, with several platforms on open-source protocols - languages through which the networks talk to each other.
Some are already accessible to the public, on an EXPERIMENTAL BASIS. Some require a Crypto wallet connection to identify the user, but others don't ask for that.
I've picked out a few models that give us a good sense of the variety of these apps:
On ActivityPub Protocol:
This protocol is quite mature and was chosen by Mark Zuckerberg for Meta's first experience in Fediverse.
Threads | Microblog
Mastodon | Microblog
Pixelfed | Social Media for Photos
Funkwhale | Social Media for Music
PeerTube | Videos
On AT Protocol:
O protocolo de Jack Dorsey, criador do Twitter.
Blue Sky | Microblog
On Nostr Protocol:
Being one of the most promising protocols, Nostr has a Brazilian as its creator, with the codename "fiatjaf". 🫨 Nobody really knows who he is, but the legend goes that he was born in the southeastern region of Brazil and is around 30 years old. The official website reveals more than 40 Apps running on Nostr. Check out the sneak peek of some of them:
Nos Social | Curated Social Network
Damus | Microblog
Habla | Textos Longos
Iris | Rede Social Multi-formato
Listr | Listas. Muitas listas
Primal | Social Media para Fotos
Zap | Social Streaming
NostrChat | Mensagens
Nostrends | Trending Topics
Stemstr | Produção Musical
Fountain | Podcast com Recompensas
Highlights | Social Media de "Marca-Textos"
On Lens Protocol
This is the go-to protocol for the Web3 community because, apart from being open-source, it's all about engaging with Web3.0 projects. It acts as a gateway for connecting with NFT communities. Even though it doesn't have many apps, its products are incredibly polished. However, to get in, you either need to be part of the invite program or buy an access token.
Orb | Social Media Multi-Conteúdo
Lenster | Mídia Social para Desktop
Buttrfly | Explorador de Conteúdo Web3
Lenstube | Social Media para Vídeos
Riff | Social Media para Música
Dumpling | Social Streaming
images: lens protocol
Challenges and Next Steps
We've seen here four protocols where any developer can create new platforms. The trend is for the discoveries of one protocol to enhance the technology of another until we have a standardized norm in the market. Without a doubt, this will be the biggest transformation in our digital communication since the advent of social networks in our lives.
The Big Tech companies that currently control social media are losing power with this movement. That's why they might refuse to adopt the open protocols unless they have no choice. On the other hand, Meta - the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp - has announced that it will connect Threads to the Fediverse, pointing us in a promising direction in this regard.
If you're a subject enthusiast, you can learn more about this in Max DeMarco's video. It's originally in English, but there's also an option for Portuguese subtitles.
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