The Fediverse: Not Yet Mainstream, But Worth Your Attention!

Here’s the question no one’s asking: Why post to platforms with tens of millions of users when you could focus solely on the billions on Instagram and TikTok?

Because those tens of millions are different. The Fediverse—Bluesky, Mastodon, Flipboard Social—represents over 58 million users who actively chose decentralization over corporate control. They’re not there by accident. They’re there because they’re fed up with algorithmic manipulation.

And here’s the kicker: with the right tools, you’re already there. No extra work required.

What is the Fediverse? (The Network You’re Ignoring)

The Fediverse isn’t one platform. It’s a network of decentralized platforms that talk to each other. Think of it like email—you can have a Gmail account and email someone on Outlook. Same concept, but for social media.

The numbers right now:

Bluesky: Over 40 million users as of December 2025. Twitter-like microblogging built on the AT Protocol, with user-controlled algorithms. Users literally choose which algorithm they want—or none at all. Grew from 5 million users in March 2024 to 40 million by year’s end following the US election and growing dissatisfaction with X.

Mastodon: 18 million registered users across thousands of independent servers. The original Fediverse heavyweight, running on ActivityPub. Your handle looks like an email address (@you@server.social) because you’re choosing both your identity and your home base. Each server has its own rules, moderation, and community culture.

Flipboard Social: Flipboard’s ActivityPub integration that federates content across the Fediverse. Not a separate platform—it’s Flipboard joining the decentralized web. Currently federating 700+ curators and publishers with 15,000+ magazines. When these federated accounts post to their magazines, that content becomes discoverable across Mastodon, Pixelfed, and other ActivityPub platforms.

Here’s what they all share: chronological feeds, no algorithmic suppression of external links, and no single company that can change the rules overnight and tank your reach.

Combined, that’s 58+ million users. Small compared to X’s 335-561 million (depending on whose numbers you believe) or Instagram’s billions. But that’s missing the point entirely.

Let’s be brutally honest here: Facebook boasts 3 billion users. Instagram has 2 billion. TikTok claims 1.5 billion. Impressive numbers, right?
Now ask yourself—are you actually succeeding on any of them?
When’s the last time your Facebook post reached more than 2% of your followers without paying for it?
How many Instagram posts died with 47 views despite your 5,000 followers?
Which platform isn’t constantly pushing you to “boost this post” or “promote for better reach”?

They built massive audiences, then put your content behind a paywall and called it an algorithm. You’re reading this article right now because you already know something’s broken. The Fediverse doesn’t fix everything, but it fixes that.

Threads: The Fediverse Faker

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Meta’s Threads.

Meta claims Threads is “part of the Fediverse.” They’ll show you demos of Threads posts appearing on Mastodon. They’ll talk about ActivityPub integration. It sounds great.

It’s a lie by omission.

Threads is fully centralized and fully Meta-controlled. They’ve bolted on some federation features, but make no mistake—Meta owns your account, Meta controls your data, Meta decides the algorithm, and Meta can pull the plug on federation whenever they want.

This isn’t Fediverse. This is Meta trying to neutralize a threat by pretending to join it.

Real Fediverse platforms? You can export your account and followers between servers. You can run your own server. You can choose which other servers you federate with. Threads offers none of this. It’s a walled garden with a screen door—still a wall, just with better PR.

2 facts as a proof of the subterfuge:

• Have you tried to turn on “Fediverse” on your Threads APP? So? what does it says? “You need to make your account Public” which is obviously Public right? Do not expect this feature to be operational anytime soon.
• We’re beta-testing Threads in MyPost2 Social Boost Network. See what this “Fediverse” is doing every 2 to 3 Days (submitting a TCP received on phone + photo, same one every time!):

Meta loves to lie by omission. They’ll highlight the ActivityPub logo, show crossposting demos, and conveniently forget to mention that your Threads account is locked into Meta’s ecosystem forever. Can’t move it. Can’t control it. Can’t escape the algorithm Meta builds for you.

If you want actual decentralization, stick with Bluesky, Mastodon, and Flipboard Social and numerous other Fediverse offers. They’re the real deal.

We give it a few days to decide to persue or remove Threads from our network, we are Seven Birds on a Wire and we don’t like lies, it’s that simple.

The Hidden Value: Links That Work Differently

Here’s where Fediverse gets interesting for content creators: the way links propagate.

When you post on Mastodon, your content doesn’t just live on your home server. It federates—meaning it gets copied to every server where someone follows you. Post once, and your content might be visible on 50+ independent servers within minutes.

Each of those servers indexes your content. Each becomes a discovery point. Someone searching for a topic on their server might find your post, even if they don’t follow you yet.

And those links? They’re real links. Not shortened, not tracked, not penalized. When you link to your blog, Fediverse platforms don’t bury your post to keep users on their platform. They don’t care. There’s nothing to sell, no engagement metrics to juice, no ad inventory to protect.

SEO might be dying thanks to AI overviews and zero-click searches, but discoverability isn’t dead. Fediverse creates breadcrumbs across a distributed network. Your content becomes findable in ways that Facebook and Instagram actively prevent.

Why Bother If Traffic Is Low?

Fair question. If Bluesky has 40 million users versus X’s 335+ million, why invest the time?

Because you’re not investing time—not if you’re smart about it. But more on that in a minute.

First, here’s what you’re actually getting from Fediverse presence:

Follower quality over quantity: Fediverse users actively chose to be there. They’re not passive scrollers. They’re engaged, they click links, they read long-form content. A thousand Fediverse followers often drive more meaningful engagement than 10,000 Instagram followers who barely see your posts.

Topic discovery: Hashtags actually work on Fediverse. People search them. They follow them. Your post about content strategy with #ContentMarketing might reach people who’ll never find you on algorithmically-driven platforms.

Cross-server amplification: One post doesn’t just reach your followers—it reaches everyone on every server where your followers exist. Network effects work differently when the network is distributed.

Algorithm-free visibility: Your followers actually see what you post. Radical concept, right? No reach throttling, no pay-to-play, no “boost this post” buttons. Chronological feeds mean if someone follows you, they see your content.

Username claiming: Remember when people mocked Twitter in 2008? Then scrambled for decent handles in 2012? Get your handle now, before Fediverse hits mainstream and @yourname is taken on every decent server.

Link authority: Backlinks from decentralized sources still count. A link from a Mastodon post or a Bluesky thread contributes to your site’s link profile. It’s not high-authority, but it’s legitimate organic linking in an era where most social links are nofollowed.

User activity matters beyond traffic numbers: When your Fediverse posts get boosted (reshared), favorited, or replied to, that activity spreads across federated servers. Each interaction creates another discovery opportunity. Someone on a completely different server sees the boost, clicks through, finds your content. The engagement isn’t just vanity metrics—it’s actual distribution across hundreds of independent communities.

The Algorithm Fatigue Exodus (Why Users Are Fed Up)

Here’s what’s driving the slow migration to Fediverse: people are tired of being told what to read.

You follow 200 accounts on Instagram. You see posts from maybe 30 of them, mixed in with suggested content from accounts you don’t follow, ads, and whatever the algorithm decides will keep you scrolling.

You follow news sources on X. The algorithm decides you’d rather see engagement bait and rage content instead.

TikTok doesn’t even pretend you’re following anyone—it’s just “For You,” all the time, based entirely on what keeps you watching ads.

Users want content from accounts they actually chose to follow. Seems basic, right? But on corporate platforms, your feed isn’t yours—it’s their ad inventory mixed with engagement manipulation.

The Fediverse has nothing to sell. No ads. No tracking pixels. No fingerprinting your device to build an advertising profile. No algorithm optimizing for watch time so they can squeeze in more sponsored content.

Meta monetizes your attention. X monetizes your outrage. TikTok monetizes your time. Fediverse just… exists. Community-funded, volunteer-run, built by people who like the internet better when it’s not trying to sell you something every 90 seconds.

This matters more than you think. There’s a growing user migration toward platforms that don’t treat them as products. Bluesky gained 35 million users in nine months. That’s not a fluke—that’s people voting with their feet.

They’re tired of being told what to read. They want chronological control back. They want to follow accounts and actually see posts from those accounts. Revolutionary concept in 2024.

And when users move, creators who are already there win.

Surf.social: The Fediverse Feed Aggregator That Cuts the Noise

One challenge with Fediverse: managing multiple accounts across different platforms. Mastodon account here, Bluesky account there, maybe a Pixelfed for images. It’s a lot of tabs.

Enter Surf.social.

Surf.social is a unified interface for multiple Fediverse accounts. Connect your Mastodon, Bluesky, and other Fediverse profiles, and see everything in one feed—chronologically, exactly as posted, with no algorithm deciding what you should see first.

But here’s the real power: you curate your own experience. Select which feeds to follow, exclude sources you don’t want, add custom feeds based on topics or hashtags. It’s the perfect tool for cutting through noise without an algorithm making those decisions for you.

Freedom to follow Fediverse feeds plus custom sources (yes! you can add your favorite Youtuber too), all in one place. No ads, no tracking, no “suggested content” pollution. Just the content you actually want to see.

For users tired of algorithmic feeds, Surf.social is what social media should have always been: control without complexity.

The No-Risk Test: MyPost2’s Fediverse Strategy

Here’s where this gets practical.

You’re probably thinking: “This all sounds great, but I don’t have time to manually post to three new platforms.”

You don’t have to.

MyPost2 already includes Bluesky, Mastodon, and Flipboard Social in its automated repost distribution. Same content you’re already creating, distributed across all three Fediverse platforms simultaneously—with platform-specific optimization for each.

Here’s your no-risk test:

1. Install MyPost2 plugin or create an account at MyPost2 Hub
2. Let your existing content library distribute automatically to MyPost2’s Fediverse accounts
3. Track which Fediverse platform resonates with your audience through the hashtags you used on your #brandtag
4. Public can find you either on the topic or your brand, easy!

Zero extra content creation. Zero extra time. You’re already there, building presence, claiming your handles, and reaching audiences that corporate platforms will never show you.

The effort is identical whether you post to three platforms or ten. So why wouldn’t you include Fediverse?

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Bottom line: The Fediverse won’t replace Instagram tomorrow. It might never replace Instagram. But ignoring it means missing easy wins—authentic audiences, algorithm-free reach, cross-server discovery that mainstream platforms actively suppress, and positioning yourself before the next wave of user migration.

With MyPost2 handling distribution, you’re already there. No extra work required. No downside. Just upside you’re currently leaving on the table.

And if you’re wrong about Fediverse staying small? You were early. #brandtag used, audience built, community established.

If you’re right about it staying niche? You’ve got a loyal, engaged audience on platforms where reach isn’t a lottery and links actually work.

Either way, you win.

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The Fediverse isn’t going away. It’s growing while corporate platforms burn goodwill. Get your content there now, before you need to.

Stop chasing algorithms. Start building presence.

Looking to optimize your content strategy across multiple platforms? Check out our guide on which platforms actually reward content recycling, and learn about the 21-day maturity rule for strategic reposting.