it's like email (derogatory)
this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2026
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I think the only difference is that, unlike email, all fediverse uses the same* activitypub protocol. Other than that, yeah, it's just like those house-castles.
* Some differences may arise depending on implementation, like misskey reactions
When comparing the fediverse to email we're talking about the technology. It's a simplification to explain how it all connects together using a very similar and known example.
lol these were constructed with mostly Saudi Arabians in mind. Didn't really work out.
Is the "polite society" in the room with us right now?
Is it at X-twitter?
Where is the lie?
Stop trying to sell me on it; I'm already here!
Yes. The fediverse is so great I've stopped telling people about it.
We fedis know how to keep a secret.
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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).
It’s not just a big truck you pile everything into. It’s a series of tubes!
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I assure you, the alternative to the fediverse is not polite society, not in my experience. Unlike other platforms one is allowed to be wrong here and getting corrected doesn't trigger the fight, flight, freeze or fawn response.
Oh, I can exist in polite society just fine.
It's just that I don't want to.
“Polite society” ain’t.
Show of hands who's here because they're not allowed on reddit anymore? 🤚
I used Reddit for 15 years, hundreds of thousands of Karma. Never any bans or warnings. Active in a ton of subs.
They have some new AI moderation hirse shit this year. Banned after 3 strikes in a month because I post shit about fuck Ice and Fuck the Nazis.
So Fuck Reddit.
(FWIW, I have been using Lemmy before that, but now I use it more.)
Same deal here. 12 year old account banned because I said "ready to kill" in the context of a cat hunting a bird and apparently that is "threatening or violent content"
Whoever is (not) reviewing the appeals needs to eat a peepee
I habe heard similar stories about peolle banned for making comments like that in game subreddits too. Someome look for help, and you say "Kill the boss" and suddenly banned, that sort of thing.
I said mean things about Elon Musk and was banned for "violent extremism"
I'm allowed on Reddit for as long as I want.
I don't want to be there. so I am here.
I left Reddit because they changed the API and wouldn't let me use my favorite app RiF lol
Likewise. Never deleting that app, but never going back to Reddit again either.
The official reddit app is a vomit-inducing pile of antipatterns, I hate it so much I don't use reddit while on the phone at all, which made me use it almost never. Now I need to escape this hellhole and my life will be so much better
Got myself and my girlfriend chain IP banned because I said I couldn't wait to see more waymos on fire
The fediverse is more like different countries. Technically you can travel to every other country with your passport and talk to the people there.
But the people running the countries like to put up border controls so you can't go to countries that don't align with yours politically, and some ban you just because you've visited a country they don't like in the past.
I like this analogy and i think it's better tham the overused email analogy
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It's like email. Deal with it.
I can. But I can't exist in polite society. So... here we are.
The Fediverse is not like email, it's more like the various BBS networks of the 80s: Tons of anarchy, chaos, StarTrek, politics, lunacy, StarTrek... and cool as hell.
Please keep it this way.
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The fediverse is not like email. It's more like a series of decentralized social networks that can communicate with each other.
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