There are dozens of different server types on here, not just Mastodon servers. When you talk about this place, it's not enough to call it "Mastodon", because it's more than just that.
That's why people call this place "The Fediverse", because that name covers all server types. :fediverse:
I'd like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Mastodon, is in fact, the Fediverse/Mastodon, or as I've recently taken to calling it, the Fediverse plus Mastodon. Mastodon is not a social network unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning federated system made useful by the ActivityPub protocol, web utilities, and vital social network components comprising a full fediverse.
@theatticdwellers@Iancylkowski@rstv@feditips Would like to find a server dedicated to boomers born in 40s & 50s. Or if none exist, Would like to learn how to run a server and dedicate it to that tribe.
@feditips@theatticdwellers@Iancylkowski@rstv so, from a server's perspective, I could setup a Mastodon server and use it as a Pixelfed instance? What would be the key differences here?
@feditips
I don't know who needs to know this, but I can't open most of the pictures on lancylkowski. I can see most (not all) on the feed. I am using vanilla Mastodon.
@feditips useful, and also no, there's no way I'm following video or audio feeds here, as those are my least favorite Mastodon (or Web) content. 😆 but good to know it's seamless!
By the way, just to clarify my original post, it's not just audio and video, there are text-centric platforms like Friendica and Calckey on the Fedi too. Friendica was on the Fediverse before Mastodon.
@feditips@theatticdwellers@Iancylkowski@rstv
i tell people its like the united federation of planets, unstable, in constant need of maintenance, but so much better than the alternative...sorry got star trek brain.
The Federation is generally considered to be apps that speak the W3C adopted ActivityPub. Federated in general just means decentralized. Diaspora* is an example that only talks to other diaspora* servers. If BS ever federates it'll be considered federated unless it supports ActivityPub.
It's designed to be seamless so that you don't notice if posts are from other server types, but there is a way of checking!
If you go to a post's original page, it will open it on the account's own server's website. The server's type will be obvious from the website's layout, logos etc.
@feditips some clients show that information on the profile page, so it's one click away (attached screenshot from Fedilab). Also akkoma's (and I believe calckey's) default web frontends display an icon of the software next to every toot. @lyssachiavari
You can follow Write Freely accounts, and when a new post is added it will appear in your Home timeline. For example @writefreely is the Write Freely project's own blog and is a Write Freely account.
A more flexible and powerful option is to use a WordPress blog. There is an official plugin made by @pfefferle and WordPress that allows independently hosted WordPress blogs to be followed from the Fediverse:
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