TechCrunch Minute: A beginner’s guide to the fediverse

“Fediverse” is one of those terms that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it actually mean? The word comes from “federation” and “universe” being smooshed together, and it refers to a group of social networks — a federation, if you will — that can communicate with each other.

This approach is pretty appealing when contrasted with the current social media landscape, where you’ve got a handful of big players who largely don’t talk to each other, unless they’re owned by the same company. People might take screenshots and post content from one platform to another, but the world of Facebook largely is walled off from Twitter, which is walled off from TikTok.

With the fediverse, on the other hand, the goals are interoperability and decentralization. Rather than one giant network that plays by one set of rules and is owned by one person or one company, you can let a thousand social networks bloom, each community can set its own rules and have its own conversations, and they can also talk to each other.

Hit play to learn more. (Also check out this fediverse explainer for a deeper dive.) Then let us know what you think in the comments!