Exploring decentralized chat and microblogging platforms
Conclusions
Each of the three decentralized chat and microblogging platforms fulfills its purpose and offers a feature set that is very much on par with top dogs like Twitter. (See Table 1 for a summary of important features.) The user interfaces take a little getting used to, but thanks to their self-explanatory design, they require very little training. The decentralized approach gives users control over their data with all services, guaranteeing an essential level of security through various security functions. Setting up a separate server instance requires some manual work. Closed groups on your own instance mean that admins in smaller companies can set up internal communication platforms without security worries.
Table 1
Decentralized Social Media Networks
| Diaspora | Friendica | Mastodon |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| License |
AGPL |
AGPL |
AGPL |
| Functions |
|||
| Registration with an email address |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| NSFW option |
Yes |
No |
Restricted |
| 2FA supported |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Own server supported |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Close groups supported |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Profile transfer |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Infos
- ActivityPub: https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/
- Diaspora: https://diasporafoundation.org
- Friendica: https://friendi.ca
- Friendica installation: https://friendi.ca/resources/installation/
- Mastodon: https://joinmastodon.org
- Mastodon documentation: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/run-your-own/
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