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@eblu@wetdry.worldalright, I'm seeing renewed interest in #pixelfed so I figured I'd explain the #fediverse in a way that makes sense to people. with pictures. sit back, it'll be interesting, I promise! 
(note that this isn't about bluesky. they're built different and I don't know enough about how they work)
@eblulet's say that we have two people. one's an instagram user, the other one likes twitter.
@ebluthey post a lot for their audiences there! the instagram user loves sharing their photos with their followers there, and the twitter user always has something to say for theirs.
@eblunow let's say that they become aware of each other. maybe they met at a party, maybe they saw the other's profile in a screenshot, et cetera. neat! maybe they should follow each other.
@ebluEXCEPT. they can't really do that. instagram is instagram, twitter is twitter. they have nothing in common, if person A wanted to follow person B then they'd have to make a new account just to follow a single person! if only there was a way to connect these two...
@ebluthat's where the fediverse comes in! it basically details a commonly agreed upon way for both sites to talk to each other, in this case ActivityPub. if you have an account on one site like this, you can follow someone on another just like that!
@ebluthe way it works, boiled down to its basics, is simple: you post like you would on any other site...
@eblu...and the site that you're registered on automatically beams it out to every other site that it knows about! neat.
@ebluand, well, that's the gist of it really! bigger sites can talk to smaller sites and smaller sites get posts from bigger sites. think of it as one massive social network of social networks that anyone can be a part of. there are caveats, but what we have now is really impressive!
@ebluwhat this means, essentially, is that if you have a mastodon account, you can follow someone on pixelfed just like that, and start getting their posts without ever having to switch accounts. it's super cool, even if it might need more time in the oven.
@ebluif you have any questions or comments feel free to let me know! you might need to follow @ap.brid.gy first if you're on bluesky so that I can see you (it's complicated) but I'm hoping that this clears up at least a little of the confusion around this entire thing
@eblugonna wind down for the night but I definitely will answer as much as I can tomorrow. just make sure that you follow @ap.brid.gy [bsky.app] first if you're reading this from bluesky or else it won't make it over here and I won't see it!
@eblu @ap.brid.gy@bsky.app here is one thing I still don’t understand. Let’s say I’m using Mastodon and now I want to follow someone on Pixelfed. If I can follow them directly from my Mastodon account and I can see their posts in my Mastodon timeline, then does it mean that Pixelfed is just another Mastodon instance?
@eblu@botolo86 Technically! It's better to say that Pixelfed is compatible with Mastodon. Pixelfed instances are still Pixelfed instances, they just send posts to and receive posts from other websites in the same way as Mastodon does. It's also why you might see something from Sharkey or Akkoma or even Peertube or Lemmy on here, for example. Different software but they speak the same language.
Bluesky in particular is excluded from this because they chose to build out their own standard after determining that the one that Mastodon uses didn't fit the vision that they have for it. This is why you can't directly talk to anyone on Bluesky, and why anyone on Bluesky can't talk directly to you here.
@eblu got it but in practice, if my Mastodon username can get Pixelfed posts by User X and I can comment on those, as well as he can comment on my Mastodon posts, why should I ever create a Pixelfed account?
@eblu@botolo86 that's the point! you don't have to. there might be a bit of discontinuity because pixelfed only accepts posts with photos attached, but for the most part your posts will show up there.
now, there is a case where you might want to guarantee that your post shows up exactly how you want it to, or you might want to take advantage of a feature that only pixelfed has. that's when you make another account for it
@skyview.social [bsky.app] unroll
Does Pixelfed support animated GIFs like Mastodon?
Unlike Mastodon, Pixelfed instances listed on the homepage aren't described very well. Is there an easy way to find out where the servers are located before subscribing to an instance?
@eblu@s1m0n4 I haven't necessarily touched pixelfed so I can't give you a good answer, but I think you should be able to upload GIFs? you never know until you try I suppose, and if not an intrepid programmer can come by later, and propose changes that will add it in for review by its main developer.
the second one just seems like a UI failure on pixelfed's part unfortunately. you might want to try fediDB [fedidb.org] (developed by the same guy actually), it's a bit more stats-focused but it gives you a more complete picture of what sites you can join. fedi.garden also has a list, but it's only really three of them
@eblu thank you!
@eblu Clear, easy to understand drawings! 
I think you gloss over the important point that ActivityPub doesn't help you at all if you want to stay on Twitter or Insta. You need to be willing to switch. There are certain options to import data from those sites, but basically people should know they are starting from scratch.
@eblu I also think it's fair to point out that, while you can absolutely see all updates from a Pixelfed account that you follow from your Mastodon account, the reverse isn't true. Pixelfed will only show you those Mastodon accounts that include an image (unless, I think, it's comment under an image).
In your starting example, Insta-user won't see Twitter-user's posts unless Twitter-user posts pictures.
@eblu That's probably too much to explain in a mini-comic, but then again, it's crucial information if people want to decide which app to choose for their new fediverse account: What do I want to see in my timeline? A mix of media (text, images, videos, links to articles...) or images and galleries?
The way the fediverse is usually presented you can follow anybody from anywhere, but the result is massively shaped by your "home app", and I feel this should be more clearly acknowledged.
@eblu@JonasJRichter yeah this is important. maybe an addendum is in order, I just wanted to get the basic concept across first without explaining too much
@eblu I understand, and you did a really good job! 
You asked for comments, so I added my 2c. How or if you use that in some way is up to you. All good.
@eblu sms and phonecall are also federated
@eblu That's a very good way to explain it. Bit of a nitpick on this one though: This slide here makes it sound like the Fediverse is a bridge between Twitter and Instagram.
Maybe instead of "That's where the Fediverse comes in," something like "If these two creators were on the Fediverse instead of Twitter or Instagram, [...]"
Well done!
@eblu@Legit_Spaghetti fair. maybe if I make something a bit more polished I'll try to emphasize that
@nicolasfolliot@dice.camp@eblu This is great, thanks. I’m tempted to translate the whole thread in French and pass it around.
You might help me figure something I’ve been struggling with since I’m on Mastodon AND Pixelfed: ideally, would you recommend using the same account for both, or having separate accounts?
@nicolasfolliot @eblu This is something I would also like to know/understand better. Thanks for asking. 
@eblu@jigbean @nicolasfolliot AFAIK you can't use the same account across mastodon and pixelfed unfortunately. that's something that bluesky and how it's built have over anything in the fediverse right now, your account is on its own server with its own bit of storage on that end that anything that supports atproto can write to. maybe you'd find better luck there once its ecosystem grows?
that being said I did see a "sign in with mastodon" button on pixelfed, so they're probably doing a thing where you can make a separate account but use your mastodon account to log into it.
@nicolasfolliot@dice.camp@eblu @jigbean I’ll definitely not bet on Bluesky for anything. But I just read a post that answers the sign-in question. https://social.growyourown.services/@FediTips/113828540298563093
@eblu I love it, except that it's kind of suggests that the Instagram and Twitter users can communicate with one another via this route
@eblu That’s beautiful! Thank you!
(and they aren’t so crude: they convey emotion)
@eblu You should do one for Ars Technica's readers. They're confused about the whole thing. Seriously, for smart people they're awfully dumb. I've commented a couple times on the article but everyone is convinced it's a weirdo thing. please dispel this myth.
@eblu@fmhilton you can always link to my thread :) https://wetdry.world/@eblu/113824072813140296
@eblu I just did! Posted a comment with your thread on it, it might help them out.
(I'm a member of Ars forums, of course.)
@eblu I don’t want to join any thing that sounds like fediverse. I like my little Mastodon server where I can communicate with other humans. I don’t need to communicate with millions of humans. I also just signed up for The Contrarian. Never been a fan of sub stack but this new one I do find interest in.
well, you joined it already long ago
you've interacted with many many posts that didn't originate from your Mastodon server without having to request them explicit permission
Fediverse is just the unofficial name for the network that allows that
@steffo I understood that and I am blocking people now that I know how to and that I have a phone that will allow me too. My phone was so old the right hand side didn’t work so I could not edit, delete my post and had a very difficult time blocking, etc. Times have changed, I have rewarded myself with a new phone. I was hoping my instance would block threads, Facebook and Instagram out of a commitment to liberty vs oligarchy. I’m opposed to bluesky because it’s Corporate owned.
@steffo BTW. I’m old, but I do have a degree in IT. Because even when I got my degree, I knew it would change daily, I’m not up to speed. I am staying informed on Security. I do understand how the fediverse works. I’m just not in favor of it for myself so I am trying not to participate.