Federated Fandom

Federated fandom is a term used to describe the movement towards creating a home for fans in decentralised, or federated, social platforms (also known as fediverse) instead of traditional centralised social networks. 
Proponents of federated fandom argue that these spaces give fans back their agency and control (as they can be run by individual fans instead of a single corporation) and help them to avoid, or minimise the impact of, the purges that have affected fans in the past (such as Strikethrough and Boldthrough and the Tumblr NSFW Content Purge). The movement began picking up momentum in late 2018 and early 2019 in the wake of the Tumblr NSFW Content Purge, thanks in part to the existence of platforms like Mastodon and Hubzilla.
The Federated Fandom Wiki describes the advantages of federation for fandom as follows:
A Discord community, distributed_fandom, also exists for fans who are interested in helping with or participating in the federated fandom movement to share ideas and knowledge, start projects, build websites and learn about federation.
Different servers might serve different fandoms or might be multifandom/pan-fandom. There are Mastodon servers dedicated to certain genres and languages. Misskey servers mostly serve Japanese speaking people.
==Examples of Federated Fan Spaces==
===Hubzilla===
* see Hubzilla on Fediverse.
*Federated Fandom, run by Impertinence, was the largest fandom Hubzilla hub, and was set up as a pilot Hubzilla hub for fandom.Welcome to Federated Fandom! Now defunct.
*oulfis.space, another generalist Pan-fandom Hubzilla hub, run by oulfis. It was created in February 2019.Fandom gets closer to the metal, issue 6: “IT FEDERATES!” by hit_the_books via Fandom After Tumblr, published February 3, 2019 (Accessed March 16, 2019). (archive link)
*Fans are in the process of creating a fandom-friendly fork of Hubzilla with features specifically designed for fandom, called Fanzilla
===Mastodon===
Mastodon is a social media network service founded in 2016.
* Mastodon (software) on Wikipedia
* berries.space was a diversity-focused Mastodon instance, and on of the first created in response to the Tumblr Purge. It was shut down in May 2019.
*fandom.ink, run and moderated by alis, is the most prominent general fandom space on Mastodon. It was set up in the wake of the Tumblr NSFW Content Purge, and describes itself as a small instance designed for fans, fandom, fandom content creators, or just people who think the domain name is cool or whatever.About fandom.ink (archive link) It aims to recapture the feel of pre-Strikethrough fannish spaces like LiveJournal as well as fan conventions.
*blorbo.social
*federatedfandom.net, run and moderated by Imp and Kate
*gaypirates.club, a server for Our Flag Means Death fans run by heyhayley
*urusai.social, a server for anime/manga fans and otaku
=== Misskey ===
Misskey is a decentralized microblogging platform.Misskey Hub. Accessed March 23, 2024. (archive link)
* Sakurajima Social, an English-language server for fans and content creators of anime, manga, and Japanese media. Has a Mastodon sister server at sakurajima.moe.Sakurajima Social (桜島SNS）. Accessed March 23, 2024. (archive link)
* misskey.art, a Japanese-language fandom server.
* nijimiss.moe, a Japanese-language fandom server.
===Plume===
Plume is a federated blogging application with an interconnected network of posts called "instances".Plume: a federated blogging application - retrieved May 2019 It has been described as having features similar to Tumblr.Like the idea of Mastodon, but too used to the tumblr format? Check out Plume! flowerqueers.tumblr.com. December 12, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2023. (archive link)
Despite attempts from fans to set up an instance of Plume for others to join,Fandom gets closer to the metal, issue 5: Pesky Plume and milestones! by hit_the_books via Fandom After Tumblr. Published January 27, 2019 (Accessed March 16, 2019). (archive link) there are not yet any general fandom-centric instances. However, individual fans have created their own blogs on different instances of Plume.
The Plume software is no longer actively maintained.Official Plume website: "Currently, Plume developers have less time and Plume is not actively maintained." Accessed March 23, 2024. (archive link)
===PeerTube===
PeerTube is a decentralized and federated video platform. It uses a network of hosting providers to reduce load on individual servers.Take back control of your videos ! #JoinPeerTube - retrieved May 2019 (archive link)
* PeerTube on Wikipedia
*Fanvid, run by Impertinence, is a fan-hosted and fandom-focused instance of Peertube.Fanvid: About. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Now defunct.
==Fan Reactions and Commentary==
The federated fandom movement has generated many positive reactions from fans who think it will be beneficial to fandom, but also criticism from those who are unsure how viable it is, for example from a technical standpoint. Below are some excerpts from fan reactions and discussions, divided by topic.
===Privacy Controls===
===Technical Know-How/High Barriers to Entry===
===Format===
===Moderation===
===Individual Fannish Liability/Illegal Content===
One of the main principles of federated fandom is the idea of fans hosting and moderating individual servers or "instances". Because of this, fans have raised concerns about the idea of being liable for what they host or for what other fans might choose to post to their instance.
In a Dreamwidth post entitled 'Questions about Federation', user muccamukk raised a number of queries about aspects of federated fandom, including:
The following discussion ensued in the comments:
Another discussion took place on 'Federated Fandom', a Dreamwidth post about Hubzilla by arduinna:
==Additional Reading/Meta==
*Federation: social media potlucks! by beautifullights1
*Federation and Fandom by Impertinence
*Distributed and Federated Fandom (notes to self) by cesperanza
==References==
Category:Glossary
Category:Fan Communities