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The fediverse \u2014 the name for the social network made of interconnected servers, like Mastodon<\/a> and others \u2014 just got another boost of legitimacy Tuesday as the @Potus (President of the United States) account on Instagram Threads<\/a> shared its first federated<\/a> post. The account operated by Biden\u2019s team published a message regarding the president\u2019s support of reproductive freedom on Threads, Meta\u2019s up-and-coming Twitter\/X competitor.<\/p>\n Soon after, Threads users noticed that his post sported a Threads\u2019 fediverse sharing logo \u2014 a circular shape that resembles planets orbiting a star, which gives a sense of the interconnected universe that makes up the fediverse.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Threads screenshot<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Though many consumers may not yet know the terminology, the fediverse is an idea that\u2019s shaping up to become a more prominent part of social networking\u2019s future in the months ahead, especially given Meta\u2019s embrace of the technology and underlying ActivityPub protocol.<\/p>\n In short, the term refers to interconnected servers running social networks which can all talk to each other. Mastodon, an open-source Twitter-like posting service, is a prominent member of the fediverse, as are other platforms like video-sharing service PeerTube, Instagram alternative Pixelfed, discussion forums software company Lemmy, publishing platform WriteFreely and others.<\/p>\n Combined, these services (excluding Threads) make up a \u201csocial web\u201d that comprises 9.9 million total users, around 1.08 million of which<\/a> are active on a monthly basis. Threads has over 130 million monthly active users<\/a> as of Meta\u2019s most recent earnings, making it soon to be one of the biggest nodes in the fediverse.<\/p>\n When Meta introduced Threads, its text-focused Twitter\/X competitor, the company said it planned to federate the app so users on Mastodon and other networks could see and respond to Threads\u2019 users posts.<\/p>\n Late last year, Threads began testing that integration<\/a> and, in March, it opened up fediverse sharing to Threads users in beta<\/a>. This functionality isn\u2019t yet fully rolled out, and it still has some limitations. For example, at present, Threads users can\u2019t see who replied or liked their posts from other servers and can\u2019t share their posts with polls. But those are features that will be coming in the future.<\/a><\/p>\n Despite lacking this functionality, @Potus\u2019 account embrace of federated sharing means Biden\u2019s posts will have broader reach, as they can be viewed by users who aren\u2019t already on Threads, X or other unfederated social apps.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n