i can't tell whether my fedi instance (possum.city) is down or if the wireless in this italian restaurant
short answer: yeah
medium answer: “for trans computer nerds” - yes (/silly, anyone can join), “is this just social media” - pretty much, but it’s only one node in a network of several (many of which are for trans computer nerds)
long answer: the fediverse is an interconnected network of servers speaking common protocols allowing people on different websites to send messages to each other. it’s like if twitter was email