This FAQ covers common questions about Fediview and the fediverse in general. For more detailed explanations, see our articles section or specific guides linked throughout.
About Fediview
Fediview is an informational resource about Mastodon timelines, fediverse discovery, and related tools. We provide guides, explanations, and recommendations to help you navigate the decentralized social web effectively.
No. Fediview is a documentation and guide site, not a client application. We explain concepts and point you toward tools, but we don't provide software for accessing your Mastodon account directly.
No. All Fediview content is publicly accessible. We don't have user accounts or store personal information. You can read everything without signing in.
Fediview is maintained by contributors interested in making the fediverse more accessible and understandable. Content is reviewed and updated regularly.
Visit our contact page to submit suggestions, corrections, or requests for new content. We welcome feedback from the community.
Mastodon Basics
Mastodon is a decentralized social network similar to Twitter/X in function but fundamentally different in structure. Instead of one company controlling everything, Mastodon consists of thousands of independent servers (instances) that communicate with each other. See our detailed guide for more.
An instance (or server) is one installation of Mastodon software. Each instance has its own domain, rules, and community. When you join Mastodon, you join a specific instance, but you can follow and interact with people on other instances.
Somewhat. Your instance determines your local community, the rules you follow, and your admin team. However, you can interact with most of the fediverse regardless of which instance you join. Choose based on community fit and trust in the administrators.
Yes. Mastodon supports account migration. You can move your followers to a new account on a different instance. Your posts don't transfer automatically, but your social connections can.
A boost is Mastodon's equivalent of a retweet. When you boost a post, it appears on your followers' timelines, helping spread content you find valuable.
Timelines and Discovery
Home shows posts from accounts you follow. Local shows public posts from your instance only. Federated shows public posts from all instances your server knows about. Most people primarily use Home, with Local and Federated for discovery.
Your instance only knows about content that's been fetched—typically posts from accounts someone on your instance follows, or posts that have been boosted/interacted with. This is a natural consequence of federation.
Use hashtags related to your interests, explore the Local and Federated timelines, check who accounts you like are following, and look for introduction posts. Our tools guide lists discovery utilities.
Lists let you create custom timelines by grouping accounts. You might have a list for news, one for friends, one for a specific topic. Posts from list members appear in that list's timeline, separate from your main Home feed.
Mastodon intentionally uses chronological timelines by default to give users control and transparency. Some third-party tools offer algorithmic sorting options. See our algorithmic timeline guide for more context.
The Fediverse
The fediverse is the broader network of federated social platforms that can communicate with each other. This includes Mastodon, but also Pixelfed (photos), PeerTube (video), Lemmy (forums), and others. See our detailed explanation.
ActivityPub is the protocol that enables fediverse platforms to communicate. It's a W3C standard that defines how servers share posts, follows, and other social actions across different services.
Yes! Because both use ActivityPub, you can follow Pixelfed accounts from Mastodon, and their photo posts will appear in your timeline. The same applies to other federated platforms.
Privacy and Safety
Mastodon offers visibility settings: public (visible to all), unlisted (not on public timelines), followers-only, and direct (mentioned users only). Note that direct messages aren't end-to-end encrypted—admins can technically read them.
You can mute accounts (hide their posts), block accounts (prevent interaction), and report users to your instance administrators. If harassment comes from another instance, your admin can also block that entire instance if needed.
Content warnings (CWs) let you hide post content behind a label. They're used for spoilers, sensitive topics, or anything readers might want to opt into rather than see automatically. CW use varies by community norms.
Tools and Clients
"Best" depends on your needs and platform. Our tools guide covers options for different use cases, platforms, and feature preferences.
Absolutely. Many people use different clients for different contexts—a mobile app when away from the computer, a multi-column desktop client for focused use, etc.
Established clients from known developers are generally safe. Review what permissions they request, prefer open-source options, and check community feedback. Avoid granting write access to tools that only need to read.
Still Have Questions?
If your question isn’t answered here, try these resources:
- What is Mastodon? — Fundamental concepts explained
- What is the Fediverse? — The broader ecosystem
- Best Tools for Mastodon — Client and tool recommendations
- Contact — Reach out with questions we haven’t covered