What does "the Fediverse" mean?
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@evan@cosocial.ca the Fediverse, in abstract, means pretty much all of these things, but when people are referring to a concrete "the Fediverse", they first and foremost mean this network characterized by running on ActivityPub on the open, public internet (as opposed to smaller bubbles running over Tor and such), which happens to also uniquely specify a group of people (who use this network), a set of principles about moderation and federation and accessibility, and to a lesser extent, a culture, but the culture is much more subjective and more of a gradient across the network. the group of people are often more precisely referred to as "fedizens" and the principles might be called something like "fediquette". but "the Fediverse" refers to the network as a whole, containing all of these elements.
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan@cosocial.ca I joined the Fediverse and started an instance, because I loved the idea of independence. I really hope it's not a culture or a set of principles, because that would probably heavily limit the amount and types of people I can interact with. Bubbles are comfortable, but comfort zones don't help us grow as people.
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This is single choice for a reason. Yes, it's hard to choose.
@evan that's weird I feel like the answer was really easy
Maybe I'm wrong though
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@evan that's weird I feel like the answer was really easy
Maybe I'm wrong though
@nieuemma first thought, best thought
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan Group of people made up of several interconnected interoperable networks with a culture of inclusion, decentralization and free access as a core set of principles.
And I love you all for it.
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@evan I said principles, because in my mind the network/protocols were built with those principles/goals in mind. The group of people/culture identify with those principles, so it seems to me like the principles are the thing that exist furthest "upstream".
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan@cosocial.ca this is a really hard question. What kind of sociopath are you?
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan@cosocial.ca finally voted for “a network”.
Yes, it is all of those things. But when I think about what disqualifies something from the question…
If I can’t, even in theory, interact with it from mtl.rocks, then I’m going to say it’s not Fediverse. Something like Gemini might share the same principles but it’s a different thing.
I also think that there are some interesting groups of people and subcultures on “the Fediverse”. Frankly this includes some people that “the Fediverse” would be better off without. They might be on widely-blocked domains. Regrettably that does still count as “the Fediverse” to me.
So… it’s “a network” that includes mtl.rocks and everything reachable from it (including indirectly).
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan@cosocial.ca possible follow-up question:
if an activitypub server doesn’t interact with any other activitypub server which is part of the big connected graph (either by choice or by being universally blocked)… is that part of “the Fediverse”?
my gut says no, but i don’t feel strongly
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
It is a network of networks.
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan@cosocial.ca a lot of people seem to think it's a culture but I bet they don't agree on what that culture is! -
@evan@cosocial.ca finally voted for “a network”.
Yes, it is all of those things. But when I think about what disqualifies something from the question…
If I can’t, even in theory, interact with it from mtl.rocks, then I’m going to say it’s not Fediverse. Something like Gemini might share the same principles but it’s a different thing.
I also think that there are some interesting groups of people and subcultures on “the Fediverse”. Frankly this includes some people that “the Fediverse” would be better off without. They might be on widely-blocked domains. Regrettably that does still count as “the Fediverse” to me.
So… it’s “a network” that includes mtl.rocks and everything reachable from it (including indirectly).
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those three other options imply my brother (and other conservatives who would never troll anybody) would never be allowed on a server that is widely federated here.
EDIT: I guess I'm assuming the people, principles and culture you're talking about based on my experience here for a number of years.
@wjmaggos @evan one could perhaps say that it's a culture only so far as the cultural elements held in common (a culture of individuals or small orgs running their own servers and deciding how they integrate with each other), but 1. Gargron has been working against that as stated since Mastodon came into being and orgs like IFTAS are also working against it and 2. orgs like the European Commission are now on here.
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan I think the bottom three can change over time the thread holding it all together is the connection, so a network.
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan Yes.
The Fediverse is a culture, made up of people, with a shared set of principles, communicating over a network.
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
@evan a series of tubes
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What does "the Fediverse" mean?
Thanks to everyone who replied.
I think this is an important topic, because the different definitions result in different policy decisions.
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Thanks to everyone who replied.
I think this is an important topic, because the different definitions result in different policy decisions.
If you think of the Fediverse as a culture, or a group of people, then questions about who can join are really important. Who has access to our time and attention? Who do we want to hang out with, and have among us?
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If you think of the Fediverse as a culture, or a group of people, then questions about who can join are really important. Who has access to our time and attention? Who do we want to hang out with, and have among us?
If you think of the Fediverse as a set of principles -- decentralization, open standards, open source, anti-capitalism -- then questions about who can participate depends on if they accept and represent most, or all, of those principles.
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If you think of the Fediverse as a set of principles -- decentralization, open standards, open source, anti-capitalism -- then questions about who can participate depends on if they accept and represent most, or all, of those principles.
If you think of the Fediverse as an open, permissionless network, then a lot of the shibboleths go away. Anyone can join the network -- and anyone else can choose whether or not to communicate with them.
