Top Ten Fediverse Sites Boast Over 345 Million Active Users

3D visualization of Fediverse logo

Previously, when I first typed up the top Fediverse sites, it was more of an apples-to-oranges comparison, as I could only locate the total number of users on many instances, instead of using the standard monthly active users (or MAU) metric.

However, thanks to David Morley of @fediverseobserver@fediverse.one fame, we can view a list of most of the Fediverse sites on Fediverse Observer (note: donation link for Morley), & rank them based on MAU.

One surprising fact is that the Fediverse now boasts over 300 million potential users (two of the largest sites are still beta testing ActivityPub, hence the word potential), a stat I expected the Fediverse to reach near the end of the year.

Note: Standalone blogs are not included in this list. However, if blog platforms (based on software) were listed, WordPress would boast 16,571 MAU out of 24,472 TU (Total Users) across 8,452 active servers, & WriteFreely would boast 11,352 MAU out of 160,921 TU across 569 active servers. These stats are from FediDB, a free service created by @dansup@mastodon.social of Pixelfed fame (donation link over here).

Without further ado, here are the Top Ten Fediverse Sites based on monthly active users (note: the top three sites' stats are not from Fediverse Observer, but the rest of the instances listed mentioned are from Fediverse Observer).

Threads icon

1) Threads

Flipboard rounded icon

2) Flipboard

Minds lightbulb icon

3) Minds

Mastodon purple icon

4) Mastodon (Social)

Adults Only

5) Baraag

Pawoo Header

6) Pawoo

MSTDN Japan header

7) MSTDN (Japan)

MSTDN Social header

8) MSTDN (Social)

Lemmy Icon

9) Lemmy (World)

Loforo Logo in shape of an L

10) Loforo

Locked microchip by License Spring

Image via: LicenseSpring

Is The Future Of The Fediverse Proprietary‽

As some of you may have noticed, the most active users (approximately 99%) will experience the Fediverse firsthand from either Threads or Flipboard.

While this stat may discourage proponents of FOSS (Free Open Source Software), the reality is that this ratio could easily change once people begin activating ActivityPub within popular blogging platforms like WordPress & Ghost (the latter who will embrace the Fediverse soon).

According to Hostinger, approximately 810 million WordPress sites exist around the world. As awareness of the Fediverse increases in the public sphere, we could witness hosting companies promoting the ActivityPub WordPress plugin to customers.

Whether on a proprietary platform or via an open-source alternative, the Fediverse is on track to reach billions of users by the end of the decade. This means the ActivityPub power ecosystem could achieve something that Twitter has always aspired to become but ultimately failed to achieve: to become the pulse of the planet.

👨🏾‍💻 by @darnell@darnellclayton.com 🔛 @darnell@darnell.day 📧 darnell@darnell.day

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