Why Mastodon network is defying the “critical mass” - it doesn’t just gain value from the quantity of users, it also gains value from the quantity of connected services

Being based on the ActivityPub standard means that we can use Mastodon, PeerTube (a YouTube-like service), PixelFed (an Instagram-like service) and many others, and they can all interoperate. This gives the fediverse a scale advantage over the walled garden platforms.

“Because it speaks the same language as Mastodon, a Mastodon user can follow a PeerTube user. If the PeerTube user posts a new video, it will show up in the Mastodon user’s feed. The Mastodon user can comment on the PeerTube video directly from Mastodon. Think about that for a second. Any app that implements ActivityPub becomes part of a massive social network, one that conserves user choice and tears down walled gardens. Imagine if you could log into Facebook and see posts from your friends on Instagram and Twitter, without needing an Instagram or Twitter account.”

It also means that if we ever feel like the service we’re using isn’t going in the direction we’d like (hello, Twitter users 👋), then we can move over to a different instance and still retain access to the overall ecosystem.

See Why Mastodon is defying the “critical mass”

#technology #socialnetworks #Fediverse

It’s a mistake to judge The Fediverse as though it’s a Valley startup

source https://gadgeteer.co.za/why-mastodon-network-defying-critical-mass-it-doesnt-just-gain-value-quantity-users-it-also-gains