T-posing 3D Rotating Puppy on Nostr: I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Mastodon, is in ...

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Mastodon, is in fact, Fediverse/Mastodon, or as I've recently taken to calling it, Fediverse plus Mastodon. Mastodon is not a social network unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning Fediverse system made useful by GNU Social, ActivityPub and blobcat emoji comprising a full Fediverse as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium.

Many ActivityPub users run a modified version of GNU social every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU social which is widely used today is often called "Mastodon", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically GNU social, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Mastodon, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Mastodon is the instance: the program in the network that disseminates the shitposts to the other instances that federate. The instance is an essential part of a Fediverse, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete Fediverse. Mastodon is normally used in combination with ActivityPub: the whole system is basically ActivityPub with Mastodon added, or Fediverse/Mastodon. All the so-called "Mastodon" instances are really instances of Fediverse/Mastodon.