The term “fediverse” combines “federation” and “universe.” In a nutshell, it’s a collection of social networking services that can communicate with each other. The fediverse roots trace back to the 2000s, with the rise of projects like Status Net, which later evolved into GNU social. The big bang happened in 2016 when Mastodon, an open-source microblogging platform, entered the scene. Since then, myriad decentralized platforms have sprouted, including Bluesky, Threads, and Pleroma, each with its unique flavor.