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Historical Timeline of the Fediverse: Home

https://codeberg.org/ddfon/federated-sns/src/branch/main/fediverse-history.markdown

The Federated SNS (Fediverse) Historical Timeline

The Federated SNS (social network service/system) timeline is a simple list of its history. To put it another way, it is a record of how the Fediverse came to be. This is only one part of the larger Federated Social Web. For this list, we defined SNS as services meant for posting updates (microblogging, macro-blogging, blogging), uploading images, leaving comments, re-sharing, and liking; or simply, the Fediverse.

Protocols and services like XMPP and Matrix are part of the Federated Chat grouping. While there is an overlap with the XMPP protocol when it comes to SNS, these platforms/software were not (yet) included (e.g. Juick, Movim, Buddycloud, Jappix, and OneSocialWeb).

Focus

The focus of this list is on information with sources. If the original sources are no longer available, there should be an archive via archive.org or archive.ph.

For example. Information we remember about the Federated Social Web, but there are no longer sources available, will not be included. We may include information provided by well-known names, and key players in the fediverse, after we verify their online identity.

There are also no personal opinions on this list, and no endorsements. This list is a plain record of dates with a link to sources.

License

Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) 4.0 International License

  • Feel free to translate this work.
  • Feel free to build upon this work.

As long as the conditions of CC-BY-SA 4.0 International License are met.


First published in The Federated SNS Timeline (Fediverse History) on 2022-12-12 20:22 ACT (UTC+8).


ď·ŻHistorical Timeline

2008

  • 2008-07-02

    • Protocol: OpenMicroBlogging 1 2

    • Software: Laconica was released by Evan Prodromou 3 4 5

      • Protocol (first release): OpenMicroBlogging
    • Instance: Identi.ca 3 4 5

      • Software: Laconica
  • 2008 sometime

    • Instance: The TWiT Army Canteen

      • Software: Laconica
    • Software: OpenMicroBlogger was released 6

      • Protocol (first release): OpenMicroBlogging
    • Instance: OpenMicroBlogger.com

      • Software: OpenMicroBlogger

2009

  • 2009-08-28
    • Laconica software was renamed to StatusNet 7

2010

  • 2010-02-22

    • Instance: Mozilla was launched 8
      • Software: StatusNet
  • 2010-03-04

    • OStatus protocol replaced the OpenMicroBlogging protocol 9 10 2
    • StatusNet 0.9.0 switched to OStatus protocol 11
  • 2010-03-09

    • StatusNet Cloud Service was released in beta. The first managed instance service. 12
  • 2010-03-14

    • “identiverse” first coined by Luke Slater 13 14
  • 2010-07-02

    • Protocol: DFRN (Distributed Friends and Relations Network) 15 16

    • Software: Mistpark was released by Mike Macgirvin 15 16

      • Protocol (first release): DFRN
  • 2010-08-17

    • Mistpark added DFRN protocol federation 15 17
  • 2010-09-09

    • Mistpark added OpenMicroBlogging protocol federation 15 18
  • 2010-10-13

    • Mistpark added OStatus protocol federation 19 20
  • 2010-11-03

    • Mistpark was renamed to Friendika 21
  • 2010-11-23

    • Protocol: Diaspora Federation

      • Network name: The Federation
    • Software: diaspora* was released by Dan Grippi, Ilya Zhitomirskiy, Raphael Sofaer, and Maxwell Salzberg 22

      • Protocol (first release): Diaspora Federation
    • Instance: joindiaspora.com

      • Software: diaspora*

2011

  • 2011-03-19

    • Friendika added Diaspora Federation protocol support 23 24 20
  • 2011-05-01

    • Mozilla instance was renamed to Social@Mozilla 8
  • 2011-11-12

    • Friendika was renamed to Friendica 25

2012

  • 2012-05-25

    • “fediverse” was first coined by Mark Eckenwiler 26 27
  • 2012-07

    • Protocol: Zot 15

      • First decentralised and identity-aware (Nomadic identity) protocol 15
    • Software: red | Redmatrix was released by Mike Macgirvin 15

      • Protocol (first release): Zot, Diaspora Federation 20
  • 2012-08-27

    • diaspora* becomes a community-managed project 28
  • 2012-10-04

    • Protocol: ActivityPump 29 2

    • Software: pump.io was released by Evan Prodromou 30

      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPump

2013

  • 2013-01-24

    • “fediverse” second (archived) usage by Marjolein Katsma 31 27
      • no other archived copies found before 2013-01-24 other than 2012-05-25 (see above)
  • 2013-06-08

    • StatusNet and Free Social were merged with GNU Social 32 20 2
      • GNU Social is the surviving software name.
  • 2013-07-12

    • Identi.ca switched from StatusNet to pump.io software. 4 2
  • 2013-11-20

    • Social@Mozilla instance was shutdown 8

2014

  • 2014-09-06
    • W3C work on ActivityPub started 33
      • Based on the ActivityPump protocol.

2015

  • 2015 early
    • Redmatrix was renamed Hubzilla 15
      • Protocol (first release): Zot, Diaspora Federation

2016

  • 2016-03-16

    • Software: Mastodon was released by Eugen Rochko 34
      • Protocol (first release): OStatus 20
  • 2016-08-16

    • Diaspora Federation protocol becomes available as a Ruby library 28 35
  • 2016-10-26

    • Software: Pleroma was released by Lain 36 37
      • Protocol (first release): OStatus

2017

  • 2017-07-18

    • Hubzilla added ActivityPub protocol federation 38 39
  • 2017-07-27

    • Software: Socialhome was released by Jason Robinson 40
      • Protocol (first release): Diaspora Federation 20
  • 2017-09-03

    • Mastodon added ActivityPub protocol federation 41 20

2018

  • 2018-01-23

    • ActivityPub became an official W3C Recommendation (web standard) 42
  • 2018-03-20

    • Software: PeerTube was released by Chocobozzz 43
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2018-04-19

    • Software: Misskey was released by Syuilo 44
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2018-08-17

    • Protocol: Zot6 45 46

    • Software: Zap was released by Mike Macgirvin 45 46

      • Protocol (first release): Zot6
  • 2018-08-23

    • Software: Osada was released by Mike Macgirvin 47 48
      • Protocol (first release): Zot6, ActivityPub
  • 2018-11-03

    • Software: PixelFed was released by Daniel Supernault 49
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2018-11-10

    • Software: WriteFreely was released by Matt Baer 50
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2018-11-18

    • Friendica added ActivityPub protocol federation 51 20

2019

  • 2019-02-20

    • Hubzilla upgraded Zot to Zot6 protocol 52
  • 2019-08-20

    • Software: Hometown was released by Darius Kazemi 53
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2019-09-22

    • Osada was discontinued 54
  • 2019-09-22

    • Zap added ActivityPub protocol federation 55
  • 2019-10-04

    • Mastodon dropped OStatus protocol federation 56
  • 2019-10-06

    • Socialhome added ActivityPub protocol federation 57

2020

  • 2020-03-08

    • Pleroma dropped OStatus protocol federation 58
  • 2020-12-31

    • Software: BookWyrm was released by Mouse Reeve 59
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub

2021

  • 2021-05-11

    • Software: Rebased was released by Alex Gleason 60
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2021-07-18

    • GNU Social added ActivityPub protocol federation 61
  • 2021-11-07

    • Software: Guppe Groups was released Will Murphy 62
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub

2022

  • 2022-01-29

    • Software: Akkoma was released by floatingghost 63
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2022-07-19

    • Software: Calckey was released by Kainoa Kanter 64
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2022-08-05

    • Software: Foundkey was released by Norm 65
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2022-11-13

    • Instance: Vivaldi Social was launched 66
      • Software: Mastodon
  • 2022-11-21

    • Software: AP Groups was released by Michael Puckett 67
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2022-11-24

    • Software: TakahÄ“ was released Andrew Godwin 68
      • Protocol (first release): ActivityPub
  • 2022-12-03

    • Software: Streams was released by Mike Macgirvin 69
      • Protocol (first release): Nomad Communications, ActivityPub 70

On updates

This is a living project. I will update it depending on the new information and my available time. If you have information available, kindly provide the relevant links for verification. If I can verify (rel=me; keyoxide; GPG; and other ways to verify your identity) that you are the developer of a protocol, standard, platform/software, a link is no longer needed (though still preferable).

Corrections would have to be clarified. Like, how is the correction more accurate than the currently sourced information? Or, how can we reconcile the correction with the currently sourced information? Of course, if you are the developer, and I can verify your identity, your information holds more weight (e.g. you prefer your software's release date to be later than the current information).

Submit your information in the issues section.


  1. Wikipedia: OpenMicroBlogging ↩︎

  2. Disintermedia: A Brief History of the GNU Social Fediverse and 'The Federation' (published: 2017-04-01) (archived: 1 2 3) ↩︎

  3. Ross Mayfield's Weblog: Identi.ca Launches, an Open Source Twitter (published: 2008-07-02) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  4. Wikipedia: identi.ca ↩︎

  5. louisgray.com: Identi.ca and the Power of Microbranded Communities (published: 2008-08-12) (archived: 1 2 3) ↩︎

  6. W3C: OpenMicroBlogging (published: 2008-09; 2008-11-20) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  7. status.net: Laconica is now StatusNet (published: 2009-08-28) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  8. DDFON: Ticket #3 ↩︎

  9. ostatus.org: It's started! (published: 2010-03-04) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  10. status.net: Understanding OStatus (published: 2010-03-07) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  11. status.net: StatusNet 0.9.0 Released (published: 2010-03-04) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  12. Black Web: StatusNet Cloud Service Opens To The Public (published: 2010-03-09) (archived: 1) ↩︎

  13. Luke Slater: Time for bed. Goodnight Identiverse. Thank you for existing! (published: 2010-03-14) (archived: 1) ↩︎

  14. identi.ca: Notices tagged with identiverse (archived: 1) ↩︎

  15. talkplus: The history of Hubzilla (published: 2016-10) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  16. Mistpark: Initial checkin (published: 2010-07-02) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  17. Mistpark: prepare for federation (published: 2010-08-17) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  18. Mistpark: mistpark 2.0 infrastructure lands (published: 2010-09-09) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  19. Mistpark: Provide the ability to subscribe to our user from other federated sites (published: 2010-10-13) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  20. Sean Tilley: A quick guide to The Free Network (published: 2017-09-24) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  21. Mistpark: project rename (published: 2010-11-03) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  22. Diaspora*: Private Alpha Invites Going Out Today (published: 2010-11-23) (archived: 1) ↩︎

  23. Friendika: stuff to make connecting to diaspora profiles easier (published: 2011-03-19) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  24. Friendika: pull in new 'writable' dfrn flag (published: 2011-04-11) (archived: 1) ↩︎

  25. Friendica: rename (published: 2011-11-12) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  26. Mark Eckenwiler: Fully accessible from my part of the fediverse (published: 2012-05-25) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  27. Twitter search: (fediverse) until:2013-01-31 since:2006-01-01 (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  28. Diaspora developer: Fla (published: 2022-12-13) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  29. pump.io repo: v0.1.0 (published: 2012-10-04) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  30. pump.io site: Version 0.1.0 (published: 2012-10-04) (archived: 1) ↩︎

  31. Marjolein Katsma: good morning / #tzag #identiverse / fediverse :) (published: 2013-01-24) (archived: 1) ↩︎

  32. GNU.org: Merge (published: 2013-06-08) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  33. W3C: First draft (published: 2014-09-06) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  34. Mastodon repo: v0.1.0 (published: 2016-03-16) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  35. Diaspora Federation protocol: Ruby library (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  36. Pleroma repo: pleroma_fe (published: 2016-10-26) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  37. Pleroma: Pleroma's First Release! 0.9.9 (published: 2019-02-22) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  38. Hubzilla repo: provide content-type matching ability for activitypub (published: 2017-07-18) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  39. Hacker News: zotlabs (published: 2018-03-28) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  40. socialhome repo: 0.1.0 (published: 2017-07-27) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  41. Mastodon repo: v1.6.0rc1 (published: 2017-03-09) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  42. W3C: ActivityPub (published: 2018-01-23) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  43. PeerTube: v1.0.0-beta.1 (published: 2018-03-20) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  44. Misskey repo: 0.0.5018 (published: 2018-04-19) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  45. Zap repo: 57e75d9332 (published: 2018-08-17) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  46. Zap repo: 57e75d9332: boot.php (published: 2018-08-17) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  47. Osada repo: 9ce94bd414 (published: 2018-08-23) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  48. Osada repo: 9ce94bd414: boot.php (published: 2018-08-23) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  49. Pixelfed repo: v0.1.9 (published: 2018-11-03) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  50. WriteFreely repo: v0.1 (published: 2018-11-10) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  51. Friendica: ActivityPub support in Friendica (published: 2018-11-18) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  52. Hubzilla: Hubzilla 4.0 (published: 2019-02-20) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  53. Hometown repo: Hometown v1.0.0 (Mastodon 2.9.3) (published: 2019-08-20) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  54. Zotlabs.org: Osada has been discontinued (published: 2019-09-22) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  55. Zotlabs.org: Supports Zap and ActivityPub (published: 2019-09-22) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  56. Mastodon repo: v3.0.0 (published: 2019-10-04) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  57. socialhome repo: 0.10.0 (published: 2019-10-06) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  58. Pleroma: Releasing Pleroma 2.0.0 (published: 2020-03-08) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  59. PeerTube: v0.0.1 (published: 2020-12-31) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  60. Rebased repo: soapbox-v1.0.0: Merge branch 'release-1.0' into 'develop' (published: 2021-05-11) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  61. GNU Social repo: v2.0.0beta (published: 2021-07-18) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  62. Guppe Groups repo: First Major Release (published: 2021-11-07) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  63. Akkoma repo: akkoma as it was before rebasing onto the fork (published: 2022-01-29) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  64. Calckey repo: Calckey release! (published: 2022-07-19) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  65. Foundkey repo: 13.0.0-preview1 (published: 2022-08-05) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  66. DDFON: Ticket #5 ↩︎

  67. AP Groups (first mention): developer update (published: 2022-11-21) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  68. Takahē repo: 0.3.0 (published: 2022-11-24) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  69. Mike Macgirvin: Streams (published: 2022-12-03) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎

  70. Streams: repo (published: 2022-12-03) (archived: 1 2) ↩︎