and I would like to know what you recommend.

I advise you to be patient. You may be in the process of upgrading to the new release, which is very cumbersome and, for large instances, can take a few hours or even a few days!

No, it still works fine, but there are several slowdowns due to some critical issues with that database when an instance is very crowded. In theory, they should be resolved with the 2026 release, but you can ask directly @[email protected] or info(at)fedihosting(dot)foundation

A blog requires a platform designed for blogging. Staying within the realm of federated software, the three natural alternatives are:

WordPress, which, thanks to the plugin that makes it compatible with Activitypub, has achieved a level of perfect integration with the Fediverse.

Ghost, which, federated a few months ago, is not only a blogging platform but is also specifically designed for creating mailing lists based on the Substack model.

Writefreely, which, despite being natively federated, is extremely focused on distraction-free writing and therefore has some seriously limiting features.

Friendica

As for Friendica, I’m a huge fan of that software and manage the second-most active instance in the entire Fediverse. I can assure you that I know it well and appreciate all its most important features. But don’t be fooled by the fact that some call it macro-blogging software. In fact, if you visit a Friendica account’s profile, it’s not possible to filter the Timeline of their posts from the Timeline of the posts they’ve reshared. So, you could virtually create a page like this:

poliverso.org/profile/saio

But you could only do that if you don’t share too much other content, otherwise the result would be like this:

poliverso.org/profile/notizie

which would be much more confusing 😅

However, Friendica is a very powerful software that allows you to republish your blog feed, as well as automatically reshare your federated blogs. Here I’ve listed some very interesting Friendica features for blogging:

poliverso.org/…/0477a01e-1366-ebfd-2002-91a370393…

So, to recap, if you want to use Friendica to create your blog, you can: you can create a new account. Remember to define it as a “page account,” if possible, but also remember that when you reshare content you like, it will appear on your profile page. However, if you don’t need the full suite of tools that characterize a social media platform, you’re better off using WordPress.

Sharkey

We’re talking about software with a very nice interface, but it’s still a social networking software. Being essentially a fork of Misskey, it also has a section for creating static pages that can be easily viewed from outside the Fediverse, but these pages can’t be federated with Activitypub 😭. Ultimately, it seems even less suitable for creating a blog. If you absolutely must use a Fediverse social media platform, then you’d be better off going with Friendica!

Hubzilla

PS: There’s also a software called Hubzilla, which is compatible with Activitypub, although it has developed its own communication protocol. I’m only mentioning it because it’s a feature-rich and well-designed product, but its interface is quite complex and unfriendly, so although I’ve chosen to mention it, I can’t recommend it as an alternative.

Don’t underestimate the danger behind these messages: I’ll reply to you with the same message I wrote here.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case: we tend to think these spam attempts are intended for stupid or naive people. However, someone who’s just discovered the fediverse and has begun to learn all the strange things that still amaze me (even though I’ve been here for years) might not be surprised by such an oddity. Finally, just as someone recovering from chemotherapy can risk their life with a simple flu, even an intelligent and well-prepared person can experience moments of emotional fragility or fatigue that lower their defenses. These messages are much more dangerous than they seem!

Yes, of course 😅

Do you mean anything in particular with “optimal” management?

I mean this:

activitypub groups must be implemented according to the standards, without making incompatible implementations as Misskey did (and as Mastodon will probably do)

they must be displayed in an intuitive way as Lemmy does (and as Raccoon for Friendica does), that is, allowing you to see a screen with the list of topics only and not with groups of conversations that distract the user

Are you mostly talking about performance here?

Yes, it seems that Piefed has optimized the DB well

I honestly question the value of RSS feeds. It’s not something “normal” users use. It’s very much a techy thing. I don’t know any non-technical person who even knows what RSS is or has ever even heard of it.

I understand, I myself have completely ignored them; but they are the cleanest fruition protocol that currently exists and enhancing them is important (and today every software in the Fediverse does it, with little effort)

I plan to support applications and/or invitation trees (like lobste.rs uses).

Nice!

What features are you thinking of?

Nothing special, but for example with Mastodon I can check the IPs of the subscribers directly from the user interface and I can easily check if the same email has been used, without entering the DB. With Lemmy I can customize the subscription page to give instructions to users waiting for approval.

I think you need a WYSIWYG editor. That’s what normal people expect.

Good idea!

What is a circle in Friendica? I’m not familiar.

In Friendica (and Bonfire) a circle is a list of users to whom I can restrict the visibility of a message. Unfortunately Friendica does it with DFRN, Bonfire I don’t know how it does it, but it’s very interesting to limit some interactions to groups of friends or distinct groups based on the type of relationship (family, colleagues, etc)

I’m designing and planning the system to support filtering and a good search functionality. Everything is accessible via the backend API (otherwise how?).

Exactly like this

Finally I add that systems like Friendica and Bonfire allow you to manage both multiple accounts (a user can create secondary accounts) and, consequently, also accounts shared with other accounts (delegated accounts). For example, I can create an account for my newspaper and have it managed by fellow journalists who have a Friendica account on my server; or I can create a “Group” account and have it managed by the moderators of the group

Yeah but mastodon plan to support group

Yes, but he’s been saying that for years…

I’m sure that when he implements groups he will do it in a way where they will be usable only by Mastodon users (a bit like Misskey did)

Honestly not really clear - what do you mean with “methodological distrust”? What method would be trustworthy? :)

Let me explain: after seeing that:

• the public prefers minimalist platforms like Mastodon and Pixelfed
• interesting projects carried out by very good developers, like Kbin, die easily
• Actvitypub is a protocol that does not define objects and actors very well and the difficulties of interaction of one app with another are discovered little by little
• it took ten years to develop a valid app for valid and long-lived software like Friendica, while other projects do not have an app yet
• every year new software of the fediverse is created that does not go anywhere

after seeing this, I do not want to get my hopes up… 😂😂😂

I feel it’s too early for that (again, don’t want to shout about it yet). But eventually I would definitely like to do that.

I understand. However, I can tell you what I personally consider fundamental in a Fediverse software:

• optimal management of Activitypub groups, both from an architectural and web graphics point of view: the forumverse (Lemmy, Piefed, Kbin, NodeBB, Friendica groups, Gup.pe groups are too important to be ignored)
• optimal management of the DB: Piefed has made great strides, while this remains the Achilles heel of Friendica
• ability to manage both images as attachments (in the “Notes” format) and inline images (in the “Article” and “Page” formats); inline images are essential to correctly interpret Friendica, Lemmy, Wordpress posts
• provide an RSS feed for users, groups and also for re-sharing (currently the feed for re-sharing is only for the Lemmy/Piefed communities; perhaps it will be in the next version of Friendica)
• a registration system that combines the features of Mastodon and Lemmy
• a moderation system compatible with that of Mastodon and Lemmy (maybe without doing as Pixelfed who created an additional application layer with a separate frontend…)
• if the system allows formatted posts, a formatting bar is necessary (Lemmy is a great model). Then we should figure out whether to use Markdown or a more precise simplified HTML (BBcode is not the best)
• creation and management of events compatible with Mobilizon and Gancio (Friendica does it)
• management of polls
• ability to follow threads (like Friendica) or the flow of microblogging (like Mastodon); Kbin/Mbin does it, but its ergonomics are dramatically confusing
• circle management (like those of Friendica)
• filter timelines based on: instances, type of software used, languages, lists/circles
• ability to clearly distinguish the timeline of remote users: pinned posts, posts, posts and replies, posts and reshares, favorites, media
• agile and efficient search functions like those of Mastodon, and advanced search functions like those of Friendica (which however work terribly)
• allow these functions to be called with the API

Extra options:

• automation possibilities similar to those of Friendica (automatic reshares) or those of the Mastofeed service (automatic reshares with the possibility of customizing the feed)
• development of a “trends”, “news” and recommended users section, similar to that of Mastodon

As for the apps, I find that Raccoon for Friendica has introduced some ergonomic innovations in many ways points of view:

• provides an optimal view of Activitypub groups, even for Mastodon users
• allows you to browse posts from right to left, a feature that I find very useful and that not even the most famous social apps have (Gmail has them, or the apps for Lemmy and Pinterest)
• has a formatting bar in the message composition box
• has a nice preview function for formatted messages
• also manages the Mastodon APIs; this allows Mastodon users to use it and therefore also to advertise the Friendica software to Mastodon users