Does anyone know of a lively and wellbalanced #Friendica instance?

[michelpatrice@jasette.facil.services]

@leanderlindahl

I have never seen a thriving instance either. I have an account that I used to experiment (an instance in Québec).

Because of the interoperability of the fediverse, to some extent, it doesn’t matter much if everyone is on Mastodon while you are alone on Friendica. Both networks interact.

[leanderlindahl@mastodon.social]

@MichelPatrice I tried friendica.world and it wasn't a good experience. It was more or less only me, 404 messages, time outs and federated (non friendica) posts for content.

[leanderlindahl@mastodon.social]

@thomas THX. anonsys was unresponsive, timed out. Loma looks fairly nice (by fedi standards ). Login modal appears out of mobile view port. Approval by admin pending.

[msdropbear@friendica.opensocial.space]

@leanderlindahl i am really enjoying my one, which still has open registrations afaik. very helpful, very responsive owner / admin, too.

cc: @raroun

[enea90@mastodon.social]

@leanderlindahl I was on the Lemurs instance. It had a good start, but then stalled, and eventually went down. I liked Friendica, it allows for more intimate connections than Mastodon. I hope that it will eventually manage to take off.

[leanderlindahl@mastodon.social]

I found loma.ml, which seems very nice. Thanks for allowing me in. It's nice to see a well working instance.

But I wonder if Friendica isn't too immature after all. It seems to be a desktop first app, so not great for people mostly using mobile. Maybe a local Mastodon instance is a better entry point for people who aren't into tech and just want to keep in touch with friends and relatives. Who've only ever been on Meta. Mastodon and the mobile ecosystem around it is has a good maturity level.

[leanderlindahl@mastodon.social]

This is probably not least thanks to being managed through a foundation and Mastodon GmbH. Friendica, pixelfed and the others would really benefit from a similar setup.

[leilia@connexia.hibiol.eu]

@leanderlindahl

It's hard to find good and open Friendica instances.

These companies offer to host Friendica instances:

weingaertner-it.de/index.php/p… (cheaper but in German)
elest.io/open-source/friendica

But I guess @migueli has had a negative experience setting up his Friendica with Elest.io, if I'm not mistaken!

[leanderlindahl@mastodon.social]

@leilia @migueli I'm fine with German. Ich habe vier Jahre in Deutschland gewohnt
Thanks for the tip

[veroandi@connexia.hibiol.eu]

@leanderlindahl @Prometheus

Maybe you could try Trom? trom.tf/social/
Trom is more than just a social network, they host other services too (trom.tf). I guess its owner is @tio .

[veroandi@connexia.hibiol.eu]

@leanderlindahl

There is an app for it called Raccoon for Friendica, which is so so. I've also heard that there is a good iPhone app, but I don't own an iPhone, so I can't remember what it's called. Most part of apps for Mastodon can connect to your Friendica account, it's just that they won't have features specific to Friendica (like Circles or Channels).

But it looks pretty good on a smartphone browser. And if you create a shortcut for your Friendica home page on your smartphone, I bet it doesn't change too much whether you navigate in an app or not (but I struggle to think like normal people, so maybe I'm wrong).

[leanderlindahl@mastodon.social]

@veroandi yes, I think the main thing if you talk regular people, moms & pops, into trying the fediverse, is that its a good user experience and not buggy or too complex, which I sort of feel friendica is in a mobile view port. So it'll have to be Mastodon for now.

Pixelfed would have been a nice recommendation too, but there are unresolved bugs in the android app since I got it in June '25, and governance of the project is completely unclear to me. It's not sustainable if its a one man band.

[veroandi@connexia.hibiol.eu]

@leanderlindahl

Yes, definitely don't put your friends and family on the Pixelfed app right now - if they're not tech-savvy or particularly motivated, it'll be a disaster. I tried it and people got a terrible impression of the whole Fediverse because the app doesn't work well and the web version has other serious bugs that ruin the Fediverse's spirit and promises. Vernissage.photo might be an option for people who enjoy photography, but I haven't tested it on a smartphone. (Vernissage is similar to Pixelfed but has extra features and a different design).

If people you know will experiment with the Fediverse using an app, it's the UI/UX of the third-party app that matters, not the platform you pick. For example, if your mum only wants to write a short message and attach a photo, it doesn't matter if it's Mastodon or Friendica, because it's the app's UX that will shape her experience. So, if the interface is the most important thing for you, you should focus on finding a good third-party app. Whether her account is on Mastodon, Friendica, Sharkey, etc. won't make a difference, unless she connects via the web version. The Sharkey software, for example, has a very nice interface, but if you use the Mastodon app to connect to it, you won't see all of Sharkey's cute features.

But I think that if you're going to propose it to families with children, Friendica might be the best choice. With Friendica, you can create a private family group to share photos with specific people only. You can create photo albums. It's not that beautiful, but it works.

If none of these previous instances proposed here work for you, send me a DM and I might have a last option.

[prometheus@infosec.exchange]

@veroandi @tio @leanderlindahl The more I look into how Friendica could truly be the central protocol hub for my decentralized social networks, the more excited I am about trying to roll up my own. Although I'll probably start with trom.tf or someone like that. To get a gist of how integration works.

[prometheus@infosec.exchange]

@veroandi @tio @leanderlindahl
Friendica functions as a **universal hub in the Fediverse**, integrating diverse social platforms through multiple federation protocols and extended connectivity features.

### 1. **Multi-Protocol Federation**
Friendica supports several decentralized protocols, enabling broad interoperability:
- **ActivityPub**: Connects with **Mastodon**, **Pleroma**, **Pixelfed**, **Lemmy**, and **PeerTube**, allowing bidirectional follows, likes, comments, and post sharing.
- **Diaspora\***: Enables federation with Diaspora pods and Hubzilla, supporting posts, comments, and photo sharing (excluding polls).
- **OStatus**: Provides compatibility with legacy platforms like **GNU Social** (public posts only).
- **DFRN (Distributed Friend Request Network)**: Friendica’s native protocol for secure, encrypted communication between Friendica nodes, supporting advanced features like wall-to-wall posting and remote comments.

### 2. **Cross-Network Integration**
Friendica acts as a bridge between the Fediverse and external networks:
- **Bidirectional Sync**: Users can follow and interact with accounts on **Bluesky**, **Tumblr**, and **GNU Social**, with content appearing in their feed.
- **Outbound Publishing**: Posts can be mirrored to **WordPress**, **Tumblr**, **Libertree**, **Blogger**, and **Buffer** (for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter).
- **Email Integration**: Full two-way sync via IMAP/SMTP allows users to send and receive social posts as emails, even communicating with non-Fediverse users.
- **RSS/Atom Feeds**: External blogs and websites can be imported into the user’s stream.

### 3. **Advanced Social Features**
Friendica offers a rich, customizable experience beyond basic microblogging:
- **Long-form Content**: Supports posts up to **200,000 characters** with rich text formatting (bold, italics, tables, code blocks).
- **Privacy Controls**: Fine-grained access lists using **Circles** (formerly groups) and **Channels** to share content with specific audiences.
- **Media & Events**: Photo albums, file attachments, embedded videos (YouTube, Vimeo), event creation with RSVPs, and calendar integration.
- **Multiple Profiles**: Users can maintain different profiles (e.g., personal, professional) visible to different audiences.
- **Forums & Groups**: Public, private, and moderated forums for community discussions.

[prometheus@infosec.exchange]

@veroandi @tio @leanderlindahl https://friendi.ca/2026/01/16/friendica-at-fosdem-2026/