this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Fediverse
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This magazine is dedicated to discussions on the federated social networking ecosystem, which includes decentralized and open-source social media platforms. Whether you are a user, developer, or simply interested in the concept of decentralized social media, this is the place for you. Here you can share your knowledge, ask questions, and engage in discussions on topics such as the benefits and challenges of decentralized social media, new and existing federated platforms, and more. From the latest developments and trends to ethical considerations and the future of federated social media, this category covers a wide range of topics related to the Fediverse.
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What you are alluding to is called "DIDs" = "Decentralized identifiers" (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralized_identifier).
The idea of most of these methods is that you identify yourself using a private key, while a public key is spread throughout the network.
If you want to log into a server on that network, the server would "challenge" your identity by encrypting something (e.g. a random number) using the public key, which you, the holder of the private key, can then decrypt and send back to prove you are who you say you are.
This method is already standardized by the W3C, but only has been for less than a year. You also have to keep in mind that all federalized social network systems (such as lemmy and kbin) are still in early development.