Distributed social network

A distributed social network or federated social network is an Internet social networking service that is decentralized and distributed across distinct providers. It consists of multiple social websites, where users of each site communicate with users of any of the involved sites. From a societal perspective, one may compare this concept to that of social media being a public utility.

A social website participating in a distributed social network is interoperable with the other sites and is in federation with them. Communication among the social websites is technically conducted over social networking . Software used for distributed social networking is generally portable so it is easily adopted on various website platforms. Distributed social networks contrast with social network aggregation services, which are used to manage accounts and activities across multiple discrete social networks.

A few social networking service providers have used the term more broadly to describe provider-specific services that are distributable across different websites, typically through added widgets or plug-ins. Through the add-ons, the social network functionality is implemented on users' websites.

Distributed social network projects generally develop software, , or both. The software is generally free and open source, and the protocols are generally and .

Open standards such as OAuth authorization, OpenID authentication, OStatus federation, XRD metadata discovery, the Portable Contacts protocol, the , the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) (aka Jabber), OpenSocial widget APIs, microformats like XFN and hCard, and Atom web feeds—increasingly referred to together as the Open Stack—are often cited as enabling technologies for distributed social networking.

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Wikipedia