What do you use today?
Start in 10 minutes
Tell me what you use today and I'll tell you what to use in the fediverse and where to sign up.
Pick one above.
X / Twitter → Instead
Mastodon
Short posts, conversation, following people and outlets. The closest thing to old Twitter.
Where to sign up
- masto.es ↗In Spanish, general topics.
- tkz.one ↗In Spanish, general topics.
- mastodont.cat ↗In Catalan, general topics.
- mastodon.social ↗The biggest, international, run by the Mastodon team itself.
Instagram → Instead
Pixelfed
Photos, in chronological order and without ads.
Where to sign up
- pixelfed.social ↗The biggest Pixelfed server.
Reddit → Instead
Lemmy
Communities by topic, with links, votes and comments.
Where to sign up
- lemmy.world ↗The biggest, international.
Where to look
- lemmyverse.net ↗A community search, like looking for subreddits.
YouTube → Instead
PeerTube
Video. You don't need an account to watch; each channel lives on its own server.
Where to look
- sepiasearch.org ↗PeerTube's official video search.
- Pantube ↗A creators' collective with its own PeerTube, in Spanish.
Goodreads → Instead
BookWyrm
What you read, reviews and shelves, without Amazon behind it.
Where to sign up
- bookwyrm.social ↗BookWyrm's main server.
Facebook → Instead
Mobilizon · Friendica
Events and groups with Mobilizon; a wall with friends and long conversation with Friendica.
Where to look
- Mobilizon ↗Pick a server to create events and groups.
- Friendica ↗A veteran social network, the closest to a wall.
Medium / blog → Instead
WriteFreely · WordPress
Long writing that people follow from Mastodon like any other account.
Where to sign up
- write.as ↗WriteFreely with nothing to set up: you write and it federates.
Where to look
- ActivityPub para WordPress ↗If you already have WordPress: the plugin puts it on the fediverse.
Your first ten minutes
- Pick a server from the list. If in doubt, the first one: you can move later without losing your followers.
- Create the account with an email and a password, like anywhere else.
- Add a photo and a line about yourself, so people know who they're following.
- Follow ten accounts: look for a topic you like with a hashtag, such as #photography or #books.
- Write an introduction with the #introduction hashtag. It's how people say hello, and it works.
For the curiousIf you want to go further
You can run your own server, for yourself or your group: some services host it for you, or you install the software on a server of your own. The directory has places to start.
Bluesky isn't the fediverse: it uses another protocol and nearly everything goes through one company. Still, there are bridges, such as Bridgy Fed, that let the two networks follow each other if each account opts in.