The nice thing about Pixelfed is that there are no "big names". It's like old Instagram.
I honestly dont want the fediverse suddenly overrun by the masses, I think it's better as it is.
this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2026
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I don't think Fediverse in general is interesting for people who thrive on being influencers, since we don't have algorithms that promote those who are popular above others.
(Those algorithms are there for the primary purpose of generating ad revenue, but the side effect is that people who are "famous" rely on their posts being seen by many even though the quality might not otherwise warrant it)
Hence the celebs could make the switch, with their followers. They are not dependent on IG for their income (I suppose). The influencers would stay behind. That's probably a good consequence.
I'm already on it; what other big names could you possibly need?
Well if your username was in all caps it would be a good start.
It's a chicken-and-egg scenario. The famous people want everyone to already be on the platform waiting for them.
I use Pixelfed to look at nice art and photography and don't feel much need for the people I know to be using it. Mastodon could be quite cool though
Chicken-and-egg. Coincidentally you're username is oeuf. Someone with more wit than me could probably make a funny joke with that.
people whose entire job is making ad money by gaming the algorithm probably don't want to be on a platform with no ads and no algorithm...
I don't agree with that take. I'm quite happy the celebs are not on it. It's about appreciating nice pictures, the way Insta was in the beginning. I'm quite okay without the endless self-promotion packaged as insights into their lives #ad see link in bio crap.
The fediverse as a whole will grow slowly but steadily and one day in the future the trend will come to us. Whether it's run on Mastodon, by extension Pixelfed, Bluesky, or something new.
I also don't think that if, hypothetically, today Taylor Swift abandoned corporate social media and started posting on the Activity Pub branches, this would move the needle much. Yes, a bunch of people would sign up for accounts out of curiosity but they will just as quickly abandon those. Because most people are not used to or are willing to invest the time to craft their own timeline and thus grow bored. The bigger hurdle is ease of onboarding, not lack of a-listers.
Thanks for your take. I use IG almost exclusively for keeping in touch with long distance friends or people from the past (like ex-colleagues). That's what makes PF useless for me as well at the moment. None of them are on PF. But I hate feeding Meta so it can manipulate me better. Not to mention give my data to Palantir and the like.
I meant celebs indeed. Personally, I think Taylor Swift could make the difference. She would be perfect for what I meant.
For keeping in touch with friends I'd suggest getting them onto Signal. Until a few weeks ago maybe also Discord but that ship has sailed down the gulf of age verification to the Bermuda triangle and rests alongside Telegram on the bottom of the sea now. You'll have more success getting people into Signal than onto the fediverse. Pixelfed DMs aren't encrypted so for keeping in touch with friends it maybe isn't the ideal platform either.
I only run a business account on Instagram. It's on an old phone that never had any Meta apps installed on it, runs on it's own WiFi via constant VPN under a fake identity. Describing this process as cumbersome is an understatement. But you could lurch like that for all the friends you cannot convince to move elsewhere and not give meta more real data.
The "famous" people will show up once they think they can somehow profit off of it.
By famous people I meant artists, actors, comedians.
Influencers would indeed loose big part of their revenue.