Research project: Retrospective on decentralized/federated social media and analysis of its weak presence

Abstract

Social media has become a staple of daily life playing a mayor role in the lives of millions. However, its ecosystem is highly centralized around a reduced number of platforms that trap their users. Over the years, alternative platforms, specifications and protocols have emerged, proposing a decentralized and federated approach to social media. Therefore, two main objectives were set for this project. On the one hand, I contextualized the current situation (both for centralized and decentralized technologies) and the process that has led to it. On the other hand, I studied the various reasons that force users to stay in the big centralized platforms, and the factors that prevent their migration towards federated alternatives. Finally, I tried to determine which of them are the most determinant and offered possible solutions.