Decentralised social media: Big Brother doesn't have to boss you around

The resilience of networks, such as the electrical grid or communication networks, requires to avoid bottleneck nodes whose failure compromises the whole network. This is true of the physical infrastructure, but also of the software and governance architecture of networks. Historically, the world wide web has developed as a decentralised network, defined by a communication protocol, but made of independently hosted websites connected by hyperlinks. Social media such as Twitter, however, have developed under a centralised governance, making their users dependent on central decisions. The takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk has brought increased interest for WWW-like alternatives, which are made of a myriad of independently-run but interconnected services.
 

The Fediverse is the global network that all these services form together. In this talk, I will give both a global perspective on the organisation of this decentralised network and give a flavour of what a user may experience when using it, with an attention on the interests of a scientific researcher. This talk will not be about why it matters but rather showing what the differences are, for you to decide what is best to do or not to do.