WriteFreely is intended for people who want to publish long articles on the Fediverse where the focus is on the text, with as few distractions as possible.
You can find out more from the official WriteFreely website ⧉, which includes a list of servers you can sign up on ⧉.
Alternatively, if you want to start your own blogging community, you can start your own WriteFreely server either by installing it yourself ⧉, or if you’re non-technical you can use a managed hosting service ⧉.
If you have an independently hosted blog powered by WordPress, you can add a special plug-in that turns it into a Fediverse server. When the plug-in is installed, people will be able to follow and interact with your blog posts from Mastodon and other types of Fediverse server.
The plug-in is called ActivityPub for WordPress ⧉, and is named after the technical protocol that Fediverse servers use to communicate. Here’s how to install it:
If all has gone well, your blog should now be its own Fediverse server. It won’t look any different, but behind the scenes your blog will now have its own Fediverse account address. People can paste this address into the search box on Mastodon and other Fedi server types, and your blog will appear as a profile that they can follow and interact with.
You can find out your blog’s account address by going to the WordPress dashboard’s Users section and click on the user that writes the blog. Scroll down to the bottom of their profile options page and the Fedi address will be listed there. Give this address to anyone who wants to follow that user’s blog on Mastodon or the rest of the Fediverse.
When the plug-in is installed, you’ll also see an ActivityPub option appear in your WordPress dashboard’s Settings menu. This will let you adjust how the plug-in functions. You can set it to show the entire post, or part, or just a link. If you set it to show the entire post, people following on Mastodon will see it as an extremely long Mastodon post so be careful if you choose this otpion.
NOTE: This does not work on wordpress.com free blogs, because they do not allow installation of plug-ins. You will need an independently hosted WordPress-powered blog that allows plug-ins. The vast majority of independent web hosting companies offer these.
To find people to follow on Pixelfed, you can use most of the same techniques and directories that Mastodon etc. users use.
Pixelfed is not just about Pixelfed accounts! You can also follow non-Pixelfed accounts from elsewhere on the Fediverse like Mastodon etc. To follow a non-Pixelfed account, paste its Fediverse address into the search box within Pixelfed. The account’s profile will then appear in the search results and you can click Follow to follow it.
After you follow them, non-Pixelfed posts will start appearing in your timeline but they will look just like Pixelfed posts, and you can interact with them in exactly the same way. The process is so seamless you probably won’t notice they’re from another type of server.
By default, Pixelfed only shows posts that include an attached image. If you want to see text-only posts as well, log into your Pixelfed account and go to Settings > Timelines > Show text-only posts, tick the box and click Submit.
Pixelfed is a photo and image sharing network on the Fediverse with a photo-oriented interface that includes albums, filters, moments etc. You can follow Pixelfed accounts from Mastodon, and Mastodon accounts from Pixelfed.
You can find out more about Pixelfed including a list of servers to join on its official site at Pixelfed.org ⧉.
There is an official iPhone app in public beta testing on Apple TestFlight ⧉ and a third party Android app called PixelDroid ⧉. You can also use Mastodon apps with PixelFed accounts, as PixelFed is compatible with them.
If you are not technical you can host your own Pixelfed server through managed hosting ⧉, or if you are slightly techy you can use tools like YunoHost ⧉. If you are very techy and just want to install and maintain a server without any help, see the official documentation here ⧉.
PeerTube is a video server for the Fediverse, and allows anyone to start their own independent video site. Because it’s part of the Fedi, PeerTube accounts can be followed by any of the millions of people on Mastodon etc, so even a small site can reach a large number of people. When someone follows a PeerTube account from Mastodon etc, the videos will appear in their timeline and their replies to videos will appear as comments underneath the videos in PeerTube.
PeerTube videos are distributed through a clever peer-to-peer system which means the more people watch a video the more bandwidth it will receive. This allows even smaller servers to host viral videos without needing any data centres or other expensive costs.
You can find out more from the official PeerTube website ⧉. If you just want to see an example of a PeerTube server, TILvids.com ⧉ is a pretty good one. You can discover interesting PeerTube videos by following FediVideo on Mastodon ⧉ and there’s a playlist of all the recommended videos here ⧉.
You can use PeerTube servers through web browsers on any platform, and there are also Android apps such as FediLab and TubeLab ⧉.
If you want to start your own PeerTube server, the easiest option by far is to use a managed hosting service ⧉ as that requires no technical knowledge. If you are techy though, a trickier but cheaper option is to use YunoHost on a VPS ⧉. The most difficult but most flexible option is to install it manually using the official documentation ⧉.
OwnCast is sort of the Fediverse’s alternative to Twitch, and lets people set up their own independent live streaming servers which form part of the Fediverse. People can follow OwnCast accounts from Mastodon etc. and they’ll see a post in their timeline when the stream goes live.
You can find out more about it on the official OwnCast website ⧉. If you just want to see what it looks like in action, there’s a demo server that streams 24/7 ⧉.
To discover streamers, there’s an official directory of streamers ⧉, there’s a bot you can follow ⧉ which posts about new streamers, and you can follow FediVideos ⧉ which boosts interesting streams (as well as other kinds of videos on the Fediverse).
If you want to try following a stream from Mastodon etc, click on the stream’s Follow button (the one with the rainbow Fediverse logo on it). This button is usually just below the video window in the desktop view. Alternatively, you may see people mentioning a stream in posts, and clicking on the mention will bring up its profile including a follow button.
OwnCast runs on free open source software, so anyone is allowed to set up their own server. You will need a bit of technical knowledge to do this, but there are various options to make it easier explained at the quickstart guide ⧉.
Mobilizon is an event platform for the Fediverse which lets people and groups create events pages where participants can sign up, even if they don’t have an account. There’s lots more info on the official Mobilizon website ⧉.
Organisers can create a Mobilizon account on an existing server, or even start their own server if they prefer. Once an account is created, the organisers can use it to post event info pages where participants can say whether they are attending.
Mobilizon accounts can be followed from Mastodon etc, and when new events are added these will appear in followers’ timelines. They can then click through to the info page where they can find out more and say if they are interested.
Microblog.pub is a lightweight privacy-friendly single user ActivityPub server with a minimalist interface, whose accounts can be followed from other ActivityPub platforms including Mastodon etc. The platform features both short form notes and long form articles, and supports markdown formatting.
You’ll need some technical knowledge to install it as it’s not yet available through managed hosting. There’s more info about it on the official microblog website ⧉ and if you are familiar with server software you can find installation instructions here ⧉.
GoToSocial is a new kind of Fediverse server which emphasises user safety, and is currently under development in alpha testing. If you’re a techy person, you can find out more from the official GoToSocial technical documentation site ⧉. It is still in its very very early stages though, not ready for prime time yet, and they would appreciate support in order to get to a release version more quickly ⧉.
The aim of GTS is protect users from trolls and other nasty people through either traditional blocklists or allowlists instead. Allowlists mean that all other servers are blocked automatically, and only servers specifically named in the allowlist are allowed access. Allowlists are the safest possible option for a federated server, though they do make it harder to discover new servers. It’s up to a server’s owner to decide where the balance between safety and discovery lies, and GTS aims to give them more options when deciding on a good balance.
GTS is also unusual because it doesn’t include a website interface, it can only be used through third party apps. Fortunately, it supports the Mastodon API which means it can be used through any Mastodon app, and there are lots of those for all platforms ⧉.
Friendica is a sort of Swiss Army knife of the Fediverse: it lets you follow and interact with Mastodon accounts, but it also lets you do a lot of things that other Fediverse server types can’t do. It can be more complicated to use, but if you can get the hang of it it offers features that other server types don’t have.
The website version of Friendica has an interface a bit like Facebook from a few years ago, lets you make long posts with no character limits, and follow accounts from all across the Fediverse including Mastodon etc. As well as posts, Friendica lets you create and share calendars, photo galleries and groups (though the groups work very differently to those on Facebook).
You can also follow RSS feeds, and each RSS post will appear in your home timeline as if it was from a normal account on the Fediverse, so it can be replied to or shared with others (the original RSS feed creator will not know about it though). Additionally, you can turn RSS feeds into specific Fediverse accounts that people on other Fedi server types can follow.
If you’re on the old Diaspora social network, you can use Friendica as a stepping stone to the Fediverse as it has compatibility with both. From Friendica you can follow Fedi accounts on Mastodon etc. and also Diaspora accounts, with everything displayed in one feed.
There is no dedicated Friendica app, but you can use it with most Mastodon apps, and if you have an Android device you can use the Fedilab app ⧉.
More info is available from the official Friendica website ⧉, and there are lists of servers to join on the Friendica directory ⧉.