24 Hours on Pixelfed – What to Expect
I’ve recently been researching more on how the Fediverse works. While I’ve been using Mastodon and BlueSky for a while now, I never fully understood how it all clicks together. I still don’t, but as I attempt to rectify this, I stumbled upon Pixelfed.
What’s this then? A free, decentralised, open-source image sharing platform. It likens itself to Instagram, but without the ads, algorithm or stalking/tracking. Sounds promising so far, right?
Yesterday, I asked the good people of Mastodon if they use (or have previously used) Pixelfed. The responses weren’t great. Words like cumbersome and buggy were prevalent. Some said it was OK, but nobody got overly excited.
The next step was to take a look for myself. Following a relatively easy onboarding process (I just signed up to the .social instance), I had a quick gander at what’s what and where’s where, then posted my first photo. Here’s how it all panned out after that…
Pixelfed is built on ActivityPub, which is a decentralized social media protocol. In practical terms, Pixelfed allows separate Pixelfed servers to communicate with one another (the idea is similar to how you can send an email from a Gmail account to an Outlook account).
Hey folks, I’m new here
You know the drill. New platform, slightly cringeworthy introduction as your first post, etc. I wasn’t really expecting much, but I included a few relevant hashtags. Once the post was live, I browsed through said hashtags, and quickly found a few photographers to follow.
In a recent article, I mentioned the slower pace, calmer vibes and nicer people that you find on Mastodon. It’s exactly the same over on Pixelfed. Fourteen complete strangers offered an extremely warm welcome in the comments.
Additionally, as I pointed out that I have no idea what I’m doing, most of them offered tips and advice on navigating the platform. Lovely!
Buggy and cumbersome
Quickly circling back to the generous feedback received on Mastodon, I can confirm that Pixelfed is, indeed, buggy and cumbersome. Not to the point of putting me off using it, but it’s about as smooth as a badger’s arse.
A few things that spring to mind are:
When you follow someone, it follows them, but the button doesn’t change to following until you refresh the page.
I couldn’t access the comments via the mobile app.
People in the comments suggested other accounts to follow, but when you click on them, it doesn’t find them.
The notifications are easy to miss / distinguish between likes, comments and follows.
The back button on the browser nearly always needs pressing twice.
The desktop version is much more manageable than the mobile app. Thankfully, I post everything from a laptop anyway.
Many Instagram users have been seeking out alternatives to the Meta-owned platform after the company said it would eliminate third-party fact checking and revised its “Hateful Content” policy to allow denigrating comments against women and trans people, among other changes.
High engagement levels
I know, I know, likes and comments aren’t a worthy validation of your work. With that said, any photographer will still appreciate them. One of the things I was most pleasantly surprised by on Pixelfed, is the engagement.
Keeping in mind that this is a brand-new account, my first post received way more likes and comments than on any of the other social media channels I use.
Unlike on Instagram (other than sharing to your story), reposts are also a thing on Pixelfed. If you like a photo, you can share it with your followers, and others can, of course, repost your photo to their audience.
Account duplication?
So I think I was supposed to log in to Pixelfed with my current Mastodon account. Instead, I set up a new account on their .social instance, but now there’s another me showing up on Mastodon. Confused? Yes!
I’ve reached out for help, but it looks like I’ll need to merge the two accounts at some stage. Now I’m wondering, does what I post on one platform then automatically show on the other? Further investigating required.
Update
You do need a separate account for both Mastodon and Pixelfed. Photos posted on Mastodon show up on Pixelfed (either under hashtags or if someone is following your account on there). Pixelfed posts will also show up on Mastodon, again under the hashtags used or if someone is directly following your Pixelfed account on Mastodon.
The best advice I’ve been given, is to use Pixelfed for photos, and Mastodon for text / sharing blog posts, etc. Makes sense. It does still result in two separate accounts showing on Mastodon, however, which I’m not a huge fan of.
Portfolio
Lastly, I’ll briefly mention the portfolio option. Honestly, I’m not sure how this differs from your profile page, other than removing most distractions, which I guess is nice. It provides a clean layout, with your images, name, photo, a link to your profile and an optional RSS feed button.
Photographers without a website could easily get away with using the built-in portfolio instead. While it’s not going to be a permanent / long-term solution, it’s certainly a thoughtful addition.
The best way to share images so people can glance at them easily is to use the portfolio feature. It’s simple to configure. You can manually decide what images go into the portfolio or set images to be the most recent ones. RSS feed is supported, too and many other content options can be selected.
Is Pixelfed a worthy Instagram alternative?
I guess this will depend on your specific requirements and goals. Pixelfed could potentially replace Instagram, if you can persevere with it’s slightly less user-friendly experience.
If you’re aiming for features from your camera brand, this won’t happen on Pixelfed. Sony, Cannon, Nikon and Fujifilm aren’t hanging out on the Fediverse. With that said, how likely is it that they’ll ever see one of your images on Instagram these days?
Based on the first 24 hours spent on Pixelfed, I think I like it. I won’t be closing my (recently re-opened) Instagram account just yet, but as I start to learn more about the Fediverse (and get a little more involved), I can easily see the appeal here.
The people are kinder, the pace is slower, the engagement is higher. What’s not to love?
