Hey there Mallow

Discord is centralised so it's all run by the Discord corporation, but on the Fediverse and Matrix each server is fully independent. More info at https://fedi.tips/what-is-mastodon-what-is-the-fediverse

The Fediverse is mainly about reading/viewing things that people have posted, whereas Matrix is mainly about real time chat.

If you want more info about the Fediverse see https://fedi.tips, if you want more info about Matrix see https://matrix.org

The core of the idea is that most websites that are social-focused have a lot of the same fields, right? Whether it's a messageboard, a microblog, a video site, a photo sharing site, etc - everybody has - a usename, some links to the user's info, post data, likes or upvotes or hearts or whatever.

All ActivityPub did was standardize those basic website building blocks so not only is it easier to build a new "front end" that uses them, but they can also work across websites.

So even though I'm here on Mastodon, I can follow a video account or a photo account on one of their own websites, and their posts and info shows up here just like they were using Mastodon. And if I comment on it, or like it, or whatever, that shows up back on their end.

Hopefully.

Ok, so good news - you've already joined, this (Mastodon) is one of the more prominent parts of the Fediverse.

You're going to probably get a lot of people making various tortured metaphors for what the fediverse is and how it works, and they can be overwhelming, so I'll try and simplify it.

All "The Fediverse" is, at the very root of it, is a bunch of different websites that all use a set of commonly agreed upon protocols to run their website's primary function, which is usually some variation on social media, like cloning twitter or instagram or youtube.

And, because all these websites and systems use the same basic data formatting for their underbelly, it means that the websites can all talk to one another without you needing a million different log-ins.

(*I think there's confusion about what a Discord type "server" is as opposed to a normal server such as in Fediverse, and how to create something more of a direct replacement to Discord, like the acquaintance said he created "a Fediverse version of Discord," it's above my pay grade )

#decentralization #messaging #fedihelp #server #alternativeSocialMedia #WhereToStart #LeavingDiscord

@FediTips