Distributed social network

Short description: Internet social networking service that is decentralized and distributed across distinct providers

A distributed social network or federated social network is an Internet social networking service that is decentralized and distributed across distinct service providers (similar to email, but for social networks), such as the Fediverse or the IndieWeb. It consists of multiple social websites, where users of each site communicate with users of any of the involved sites. From a societal perspective, one may compare this concept to that of social media being a public utility.

A social website participating in a distributed social network is interoperable with the other sites involved and is in federation with them. Communication among the social websites is technically conducted over social networking protocols. Software used for distributed social networking is generally portable so it is easily adopted on various website platforms. Distributed social networks contrast with social network aggregation services, which are used to manage accounts and activities across multiple discrete social networks.

A few social networking service providers have used the term more broadly to describe provider-specific services that are distributable across different websites, typically through added widgets or plug-ins. Through the add-ons, the social network functionality is implemented on users' websites.

## Contents

* 1 Differences between distributed and federated networks
* 2 Comparison of software and protocols
* 3 History
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Further reading
* 7 External links

## Differences between distributed and federated networks

Both kind of networks are decentralized. However, distribution goes further than federation. A federated network has multiple centers, whereas a distributed network has no center at all.[1]

## Comparison of software and protocols

Distributed social network projects generally develop software, protocols, or both. The software is generally free and open source, and the protocols are generally open and free.

Open standards such as OAuth authorization, OpenID authentication, OStatus federation, ActivityPub federation protocol, Nostr, XRD metadata discovery, the Portable Contacts protocol, the Wave Federation Protocol, the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) (aka Jabber), OpenSocial widget APIs, microformats like XFN and hCard, and Atom web feeds—increasingly referred to together as the Open Stack—are often cited as enabling technologies for distributed social networking.[2]

## History

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a U.S. legal defense organization and advocacy group for civil liberties on the Internet, endorses the distributed social network model as one "that can plausibly return control and choice to the hands of the Internet user" and allow persons living under restrictive regimes to "conduct activism on social networking sites while also having a choice of services and providers that may be better equipped to protect their security and anonymity".[3]

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web, launched a new Social Activity in July 2014 to develop standards for social web application interoperability.[4]

In 2013, the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) released a candidate version of the Social Network Web enabler (SNeW) that was approved in 2016. Its specification is based mainly on OStatus and OpenSocial specifications and designed to meet GDPR recommendations. It is a tentative of the telco industry to establish a operated-led federation of social network services.[5]

## See also

* Fediverse

## References

1. ↑ "Unlike Us | Beyond distributed and decentralized: what is a federated network?". https://networkcultures.org/unlikeus/resources/articles/what-is-a-federated-network/.
2. ↑ Recordon, David (2008-10-09). ""Blowing Up" Social Networks by Going Open". p. 27. http://www.slideshare.net/daveman692/blowing-up-social-networks-by-going-open-presentation/.
3. ↑ Richard Esguerra (March 21, 2012). "An Introduction to the Federated Social Network". Electronic Frontier Foundation Deeplinks Blog. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/introduction-distributed-social-network.
4. ↑ "W3C Launches Push for Social Web Application Interoperability". World Wide Web Consortium. 21 July 2014. http://www.w3.org/blog/news/archives/3958.
5. ↑ "OMA Social Network Web (SNeW) v1.0". Open Mobile Alliance. 13 August 2013. https://www.openmobilealliance.org/release/SNeW/.

## Further reading

* Paper on FOAF in an Android environment by Tramp, S., Frischmuth, P., Arndt, N., Ermilov, T., and Auer, S. (2011). Weaving a distributed, semantic social network for mobile users. In Antoniou, G., editor, ESWC 2011, Part I, LNCS 6643, pages 200–214.

## External links

* W3C Social Activity
* W3C Social Web Working Group
* W3C Social Interest Group
* Federated Social Web Conference 2011
* Video by Henry Story demonstrating FOAF in an Android environment
* BuddyCloud
* Mastodon

* v
* t
* e

Social networks and social media

Types|

* Personal
* Professional
* Sexual
* Value
* Clique
* Adolescent

Networks|

* Distributed social network (list)
* Enterprise social networking
* Mobile social network
* Personal knowledge networking

Services|

* List of social networking websites
* List of virtual communities with more than 1 million users

Concepts and
theories|

* Assortative mixing
* Interpersonal bridge
* Organizational network analysis
* Small-world experiment
* Social aspects of television
* Social capital
* Social data revolution
* Social exchange theory
* Social identity theory
* Social network analysis
* Social web
* Structural endogamy

Models and
processes|

* Aggregation
* Change detection
* Collaboration graph
* Collaborative consumption
* Giant Global Graph
* Lateral communication
* Social graph
* Social network analysis software
* Social networking potential
* Social television
* Structural cohesion

Economics|

* Collaborative finance
* Social commerce

Phenomena|

* Community recognition
* Complex contagion
* Consequential strangers
* Friend of a friend
* Friendship paradox
* Six degrees of separation
* Social media addiction
* Social invisibility
* Social network game
* Social occultation
* Tribe

Related topics|

* Researchers
* User profile
* Viral messages
* Virtual community

Books|

* Social Invisibility is not a Fiction it Exists

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