1. Understand federation
Picture several separately hosted communities whose members can follow and reply to one another. ActivityPub describes how servers exchange social activity. Mastodon, Pixelfed and PeerTube illustrate different uses; their features and level of interoperability are not identical.
2. Choose a server carefully
Read its introduction, rules, moderation policy and contact details. Check whether its community, language and sign-up conditions suit you. Each server has its own administrators, so its availability and decisions matter alongside the software you use.
3. Check who can see your posts
A post intended to travel between servers can be copied or shared beyond its original home. Privacy and deletion features differ among software and servers. Do not assume federation is an encrypted private messaging service for sensitive conversations.
4. Try it before committing
Create an account, follow a few people on different servers and observe the conversations. Review export and account-move options before building a large presence. Keep your own copy of content you want to retain.
Sources and method
This editorial synthesis draws on the sources below. Features may change by service and country.
- W3C — ActivityPub Recommendation ↗
- Mastodon — Official documentation ↗
- PeerTube — Official introduction ↗
World Web Certified · Suggest a correction.