The Fediverse is an interconnected world of diverse platforms, brought together by the ActivityPub protocol. At its heart lies a fundamental concept: decentralized, federated communication. In this environment, relays play a significant role by enhancing the reach and visibility of servers (instances) within the network. To understand why relays matter, it’s important to explore how a relay works and what they bring to the Fediverse – including all the software components like Mastodon, Pleroma, snac and many more.

An ActivityPub relay acts as a middleman, bridging multiple servers to facilitate broader content sharing. Without a relay, communication across instances relies entirely on direct relationships between servers. If two servers don’t know about each other, their users might remain unaware of the conversations and communities happening elsewhere. This might also often lead into missing content when searching for specific keywords or hashtags. A relay steps in to address this challenge by ensuring that posts from one instance can be seen by others, even if they aren’t directly federated. It amplifies the interconnectedness that is the hallmark of the Fediverse.

One of the biggest advantages of relays is that they help smaller instances thrive. When a new or niche server joins the Fediverse, it often starts as a quiet place with limited interaction. Relays can dramatically change this dynamic. By participating in a relay, a small server’s content reaches a larger audience. This doesn’t just give more visibility to the server – it helps its users feel more integrated into the broader Fediverse community. People are more likely to stay active on their instance when they see others engaging with their posts.

Relays also improve the overall diversity of content available across the Fediverse. Different instances cater to a variety of interests, languages, and perspectives. Without relays, these unique communities might remain isolated. Relays allow the creative output, ideas, and voices from diverse servers to flow more freely. This enriches everyone’s experience by bringing new perspectives into their timelines.

Why to use?

• Increased Visibility: Relays amplify the reach of content from smaller or less connected instances, ensuring posts are seen by a broader audience.

• Enhanced Interaction: Relays make it easier for users to discover and engage with content from instances they aren’t directly federated with.

• Support for Small Instances: Relays help new or niche servers integrate into the Fediverse by making their content accessible to a wider network.

• Content Diversity: They promote a richer variety of posts, perspectives, and languages across the network.

• Reduced Federation Load: Relays minimize the technical strain on servers by reducing the need for direct federation with many instances.

• Strengthened Connections: Relays foster collaboration and a sense of shared identity among disparate Fediverse communities.

• Improved User Experience: By increasing content flow, relays make timelines more active and engaging for users.

• Autonomy-Friendly: Relays are optional and configurable, allowing instance administrators to retain full control over their participation.

• Scalability: They help the Fediverse grow and remain interconnected as more instances and users join.

• Community Building: Relays encourage interaction, helping users find new communities and interests, which enriches the social fabric of the Fediverse.

How to use?

Many applications for the Fediverse, such like Mastodon, snac, Pleroma and many more support the ActivityPub relay service. Most often, you can directly find such solutions in the admin interface of the used software. Afterwards, it’s simply enough to add the relay instance.

To use my newly introduced relay service, you can simply navigate to:

• https://fedi-relay.gyptazy.com

This instance is available on IPv4 and IPv6 which makes it also pretty useful for IPv6 only instances. Depending on what kind of software you’re using, you may need to adjust the service URL.

Mastodon

Mastodon admins can add this relay by adding

https://fedi-relay.gyptazy.com/inbox

in their relay settings. 

Pleroma

Pleroma admins can add this relay by adding

https://fedi-relay.gyptazy.com/actor

to their relay settings.

Afterwards, the instance will automatically join the relay and takes part of the relaying service where posts will be shared across the instances to provide a wider audience. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at @gyptazy (Fediverse) or @gyptazy:gyptazy.com (Matrix).