A federated social network is a subclass of social network where communities, data, and users aren’t centralised with a single provider or company.
The benefit of a decentralised social network is that it promotes community autonomy. Imagine in a centralised network where arbitrary rules can be applied at any point. There’s nowhere else to go. There’s no reliability or understanding of what goes on behind the scene.
Mastodon is one of the most popular federated social networks.
Things like this are really exciting. It’s a chance to reset how we use social media and how the Internet works.