Fediverse

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This magazine is dedicated to discussions on the federated social networking ecosystem, which includes decentralized and open-source social media platforms. Whether you are a user, developer, or simply interested in the concept of decentralized social media, this is the place for you. Here you can share your knowledge, ask questions, and engage in discussions on topics such as the benefits and challenges of decentralized social media, new and existing federated platforms, and more. From the latest developments and trends to ethical considerations and the future of federated social media, this category covers a wide range of topics related to the Fediverse.

founded 2 years ago

Why is it called Fediverse / Federation? (kbin.social)

submitted 2 years ago by Pamasich@kbin.social to c/fediverse@kbin.social

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I get it that things can have unfortunate names, but I've seen a lot of people proudly claim lemmy is "federated" or a "federation". Isn't a federation actually against what people want out of the fediverse?

Like, a federation in governments is about a bunch of otherwise self-governing states under a centralized government. Like the US, that's a federation.

isn't the whole point of the fediverse that it's anti-centralization? Then why do people call it a federation positively? That sounds like the last thing I'd want it to be.

I think a confederation would work, but that's not what I see people going for. Is that what it's actually intended to be and people just call it the wrong thing?

Imo Reddit is more of a federation than the fediverse, since the subreddits are self-governing communities until the admins demand them to change something.

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[–] trynn@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

You're applying the political science definition of 'federation' and not the computer science definition. They are different. Federation in CompSci terms has to do with networking providers using standardization to interoperate, which is exactly what the fediverse does.

[–] willya@lemmyf.uk 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Every instance is a state with its own rules.

[–] Pamasich@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

My issue is that there's no centralized power that has control over all the instances/states, which is how federation works. Edit: So I think calling it a federation is wrong. A confederation, sure, but it's not a federation unless there's something I'm missing.

[–] ono@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

You're assuming that the word federation means central governance over the component parts. It doesn't. That's just an element that happens to be present in well-known political federations, which are not the only kind.

When I think of federation, the defining feature is not control, but co-operation.

[–] Pamasich@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I mean, without a central governance, just cooperation, isn't it just a confederation then?

[–] livus@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I think the problem here is you see "federation" as a political term and perhaps you don't realise that "federation" as an information technology term has a different meaning.

A federation is a group of computing or network providers agreeing upon standards of operation in a collective fashion.

The term may be used when describing the inter-operation of two distinct, formally disconnected, telecommunications networks that may have different internal structures.[1] The term "federated cloud" refers to facilitating the interconnection of two or more geographically separate computing clouds

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