c.im is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
C.IM is a general, mainly English-speaking Mastodon instance.

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Is there a noun for decentralized social media that isn't so clumsy or not affiliated with a particular protocol (Fediverse)?

When I write I keep wanting to use the word "platform" though I know that's incorrect. But there isn't a simple equivalent term.

Or even something more generic. Network? Ecosystem? "Protocol" isn't all encompassing.

Yohan Yukiya Sese Cuneta 사요한🦣

@fromjason

## DDFON / Mycelial Web

Sometime in the early 2010s, I've been using DDFON = Decentralized, Distributed, Federated, Open Network.

In 2022/2023, I reopted the chosen new name for the Fediverse "Mycelium" since in the end no one used it (even after multiple votes and discussions). I now use it this way:

* DDFON friendly name is "Mycelial Web".
* Each network is called "Mycelium network".

Since a "mycelium" is a single network in real life and the plural of it (a collection of mycelium) is "mycelial".

## Open Social / Social Web / Open Social Web

There is also "Social Web" and "Open Social Web", which are the same actually. However, in the mid to late 2000s, it was already defined as any network that uses any technology that promotes openness and interoperability. There was also a now defunct organization called "Open Social" and a W3C effort supporting such technologies that falls under "Open Social".

Two examples of "Open Social Web" are Hi5 and Google Plus. Hi5 and Google Plus are not DDFON / Mycelial Web but are Social Web / Open Social / Open Social Web.

## Personally

I make a distinction between the much larger "Social Web" / "Open Social" / "Open Social Web" versus the more focused DDFON or Mycelial Web .

Underneath the DDFON / Mycelial Web label are the Mycelium networks like:

1. Fediverse (ActivityPub)
2. ATmosphere (ATproto)
3. The Federation (diaspora*)
4. Matrix (Matrix)
5. Jabber (XMPP)
6. NOSTRich (Nostr)
7. and others

🙂

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