Why should writers look at the Fediverse?

What is the Fediverse?

It’s thousands of independent social sites, called servers, that pass posts between them using a shared standard. Someone with an account on one server can follow, reply to and share posts from someone on another, just as an email from one provider reaches an inbox at another. The name is short for “federated universe”.

Mastodon is the best-known software these servers run, so “I’m on Mastodon” usually means “I’m on the Fediverse”. Every account has an address in two parts, a name and a server, written like @name@server.example. Litopia is now one of these servers.

How big is it?

Small, compared to the likes of Meta. The Mastodon servers that report their numbers counted about 10.5 million accounts on November 2, 2026, of which about 743,000 had been active in the previous 30 days (source, from Mastodon’s own statistics). Other Fediverse sites don’t report that sort of data.

That’s tiny next to the big networks, and it’s the same argument this whole guide makes about lists. A smaller audience of people who chose to be there, and who see what you post, is worth more than a vast one you rent.

(Litopia’s own presence on the Fediverse also goes out to Bluesky and Meta’s Threads, which enormously increases the potential audience.)

Who will you meet there?

People who made a deliberate choice. They gave up the convenience of the big networks for a place without ads or ranking, which says something about how they like to find things. Independent-minded readers who choose a network nobody owns tend to choose their books the same way: on purpose, not because a feed put them there.

Book talk is easy to find. Hashtags such as #Bookstodon, #AmWriting and #WritingCommunity gather posts from across the network, and some servers are built entirely around books and reading.

Why does having no algorithm matter to a writer?

Because your posts reach the people who follow you, in the order you wrote them. Mastodon describes its feeds as chronological, with no algorithms, ads or clickbait (source). Nothing is ranked, nothing is rationed, and nobody can pay to jump the line.

Posts travel through people instead: someone follows you, boosts (shares) a post they liked, replies, or follows a hashtag you used. That rewards what writers are already good at, which is being interesting and generous in conversation, and not tricks for pleasing a machine.

Are your Fediverse followers yours?

More than on most networks. On Mastodon, moving your account to a different server should bring your followers with you automatically, though your old posts stay behind (source). That’s a long way from a network that owns your audience outright.

Still, a follower isn’t a subscriber. Treat the Fediverse as a place to meet readers, and invite the ones who enjoy your posts to your newsletter, the one relationship that’s entirely yours. Rented or owned and The list you own explain why.

How do you join?

Every Litopia member can join the Fediverse in a few moments, from My Social Media, and gets an address of the form @yourname@litopia.com. Your Litopia Updates can then reach followers on other servers, and readers elsewhere can follow you from a button on your Author Page.

How do you fit in?

The Fediverse has a few customs of its own, and following them makes friends fast:

• Introduce yourself with the hashtag #Introduction: who you are, what you write, what you’d enjoy talking about.
• Describe your pictures for people who can’t see them. Many people won’t share a picture that has no description.
• Use content warnings for spoilers and difficult subjects, so readers can choose when to open them.
• Write hashtags in CamelCase, such as #AmWriting, so screen readers can read them aloud.
• Talk more than you promote. Reply, boost others’ good posts, and mention your book only when it’s welcome.