this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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Fediverse memes
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So many comments in here hating on the "like email" wording. To be honest, it's been awhile since I've even seen any large number of comments using that analogy, but also, the "like email" part was pretty much always paired with additional explanation on which parts are like that and which parts differ from that. Like most analogies, it's not a perfect 100% 1-to-1 pairing of all features and function, otherwise, it wouldn't be an analogy. I'm not sure why so many people struggle with understanding that.
No, it's not like email. It's like Glibbleschmorken except there's not mandatory prereconcillation of sychroncratic communication.
That's inaccurate, my dude, it's nothing like Glibbleschmorken, it's more like WUD where there's a multiplier for the scoring quotient and no centralized conglomeration.
False. WUD SUX. There's only no centralized conglomeration if you ignore the fact that every hovel has API underpinning that strategizes the discombobulation. But, that's basically ignoring the facts. Federation is clearly just like UDP.
And so on. Ad nauseam.
The "it's like email" analogy was always doomed, because the people saying it know how email works at a technical and architectural level, while the people hearing it know email as "that thing that Just Works ™️ to send messages to anyone else with an email address".
At that level, the Fediverse and Email are nothing alike.
I don't agree. But, even if I was fully on board with that, I'd say "it's like email" is still orders of magnitude more relatable as an analogy than telling non-technical people it's like a BBS, it's like UDP, it's like, technical mumbo-jumbo that the majority of the audience probably doesn't even know by name recognition, let alone understand what these things are and how they work.
Analogies are rarely perfect (I'd argue good analogies are never perfect).