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Facebook. Instagram. X / Twitter. Reddit – they all suck, for so many reasons, but so many people still use them. I just read this week that Insta has more than 3 billion users now. Yuck.

(Found on this page)

But like many people, you may be wondering what other options you have. Well, let me tell you about the Fediverse. It’s a network of social media applications which run in a decentralized way. If you know how to use email, you can learn to use Fediverse apps. Just like email, Fediverse apps run on thousands on servers, around the world, but connect to each other behind the scenes to share data. Maybe an example would help illustrate this.

With email, you get an address like yourname@someplace.com. You can sign into your email app and check your messages, and anyone in the world can send you a note using your address. You don’t have to worry about how the technologies behind email work - you just use your app, and it works! Everyone else has their own apps, and they just work too. There’s no single central email service - some have Gmail, some Yahoo, some use Proton or Tuta. They all work together.

This is how the Fediverse works too. You sign up with one service, get an address like, “@yourname@piefed.social” and away you go! Many applications talk to each other, but you just sign into one, post and comment as you like, and they share that data around the world. And the Fediverse has apps for all of your favorite media.

If you like Facebook, you can check out Friendica.

If you use Insta, you should switch to Pixelfed.

If you love the short videos on Tiktok, Loops is a new alternative.

Mastodon replaces X / Twitter.

Lemmy or Piefed are way better than crusty old, bot-ridden Reddit.

Bookwyrm won’t track you and your friends like GoodReads.

These are all better options than the Big Tech apps you’re used to. There are no ads ever on the Fediverse. All of the above services are 100% free to use. The source code is open and reviewable, so there’s no hidden algorithm controlling what you see. And – imagine if you could post a picture on Facebook, and people from Reddit and Insta could comment on it, without ever signing into Facebook. That’s impossible with the walled gardens of the big sites, but is a built-in feature of the Fediverse.

There are now more than 16 million people using Fediverse apps – they left big Tech behind and are sharing in this new approach to social media. Check out this Fediverse guide from Elena Rossini. She did a great job summarizing what this is all about.

The future is federated - https://news.elenarossini.com/my-fediverse-starter-guide/

Elena is a great example of how you can leave all the crap behind, and embrace the Fediverse in a big way. I’ve done that as well, though I didn’t leave Facebook or Insta or X – I was never on those platforms. I did leave Reddit and I’ve never once regretted that choice. If you want to say hey to me on the Fediverse, just reach out via my contact page and I’ll share my links with you.

What’s keeping you on the old big tech sites? You must have read some of the recent news stories about how bad those services have become. Why not make the switch right now - and bring your friends and family into the Fediverse at the same time? Share your thoughts with me via my Contact page, let me know how your transition is going. And remember - you don’t have to quit cold turkey. Try signing up for one Fediverse service and see how it goes. I know you’re going to love it. And you’ve already got a friend you can say hi to (me, of course).

:)