Apologies for what are probably dumb questions, but I haven’t quite found the answer that I’m looking for from all the help posts that I’ve seen.

I get the concept of how federation works (I think!?), but it seems that not all Lemmy instances federate with each other, or KBin or Mastodon.

If that’s right, then I can’t subscribe to content from a particular instance, unless my home insurance federated with them?

So (assuming I’ve got that all correct) how do I find out who is federating with who, at any particular point in time?

Bonus question: if I subscribe to content from another instance…. And someone posts to that community from an instance that my instance doesn’t federate with, I’ll still see it? Is that right?

Could someone please correct me if I’m wrong in my understanding, and help me figure out who is federating with who!?

  • Contramuffin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    how do I find out who is federating with who, at any particular point in time?

    You can scroll to the bottom of your instance and click on the “instance” link on the bottom. It’ll give you every instance that your local instance is linked with or has blocked. I see that you’re on lemmy.world, so I’ll just give you this link (it’s the same link as if you clicked on the instance link): https://lemmy.world/instances

    someone posts to that community from an instance that my instance doesn’t federate with, I’ll still see it? Is that right?

    I actually don’t know this. My assumption is no, you can’t see it, but I’d like to hear any corrections if my assumption is wrong

  • TheBeege@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    My understanding isn’t perfect, but I’ll share what i understand so far.

    An instance starts federation with another instance when a user requests content from the other instance. This starts the sync.

    An instance’s admins can block federation/content sharing with another instance explicitly.

    I’m not sure of a way to see a kind of map of federation, but it would be cool

    If your instance, A, blocks instance B, I’m not sure if you can see instance B’s users’ posts on instance C. That’s beyond my knowledge

    I hope this helps?

    • NotForTheOtherUse@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      Thank you. Yes - I was trying to figure out a federation map for the instances I was interested in. I think it’d be a useful feature. But obviously not high on the priority list at the moment.

      • Supreme@reddthat.comEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        On your instance of choice, at least on the default mobile site, there’s an “instances” button you can click at the bottom and it’ll give you a list of every instance that this instance federates with and blocks.