FediLive: A Framework for Collecting and Preprocessing Snapshots of Decentralized Online Social Networks

Shaojie Min; Shaobin Wang; Yaxiao Luo; Min Gao; Qingyuan Gong; Yu Xiao; Yang Chen

doi:10.1145/3701716.3715298

FediLive: A Framework for Collecting and Preprocessing Snapshots of Decentralized Online Social Networks

Shaojie Min
, Shaobin Wang
, Yaxiao Luo
, Min Gao
, Qingyuan Gong
, Yu Xiao
, Yang Chen

Fudan University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Decentralized online social networks such as Mastodon have emerged quickly during the past years, and offer unique opportunities to investigate user behavior, moderation strategies, and community evolution. However, their decentralized nature imposes challenges for data collection and preprocessing, particularly for obtaining
a real-time snapshot in a timely manner. This paper introduces FediLive, a framework designed to rapidly collect and preprocess the live feeds from Mastodon, generate a comprehensive snapshot in real-time, including user-generated contents, interaction networks, and users’ demographic attributes. Such a snapshot could further be
leveraged for data analysis from different angles, leading to a deeper understanding of user activities on Mastodon. Using FediLive, we collected a 13-day snapshot of Mastodon, covering the publicly visible activities of all Mastodon users. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of FediLive, and reveals its potential in facilitating
data-driven analysis for decentralized online social networks.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	WWW Companion 2025 - Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2025
Publisher	ACM
Pages	765-768
Number of pages	4
ISBN (Electronic)	979-8-4007-1331-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3701716.3715298
Publication status	Published - 23 May 2025
MoE publication type	A4 Conference publication
Event	The Web Conference - Sydney, Australia Duration: 28 Apr 2025 → 2 May 2025 Conference number: 34 https://www2025.thewebconf.org/

Conference

Conference	The Web Conference
Abbreviated title	WWW
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Sydney
Period	28/04/2025 → 02/05/2025
Internet address	https://www2025.thewebconf.org/

Keywords

Decentralized Online Social Networks
Fediverse
Mastodon
Measurement
Preprocessing

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10.1145/3701716.3715298

FediLive_camera-readyAccepted author manuscript, 692 KB

Cite this

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title = "FediLive: A Framework for Collecting and Preprocessing Snapshots of Decentralized Online Social Networks",

abstract = "Decentralized online social networks such as Mastodon have emerged quickly during the past years, and offer unique opportunities to investigate user behavior, moderation strategies, and community evolution. However, their decentralized nature imposes challenges for data collection and preprocessing, particularly for obtaining a real-time snapshot in a timely manner. This paper introduces FediLive, a framework designed to rapidly collect and preprocess the live feeds from Mastodon, generate a comprehensive snapshot in real-time, including user-generated contents, interaction networks, and users{\textquoteright} demographic attributes. Such a snapshot could further be leveraged for data analysis from different angles, leading to a deeper understanding of user activities on Mastodon. Using FediLive, we collected a 13-day snapshot of Mastodon, covering the publicly visible activities of all Mastodon users. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of FediLive, and reveals its potential in facilitating data-driven analysis for decentralized online social networks.",

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pages = "765--768",

booktitle = "WWW Companion 2025 - Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2025",

publisher = "ACM",

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note = "The Web Conference, WWW ; Conference date: 28-04-2025 Through 02-05-2025",

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FediLive: A Framework for Collecting and Preprocessing Snapshots of Decentralized Online Social Networks. / Min, Shaojie; Wang, Shaobin; Luo, Yaxiao et al.
WWW Companion 2025 - Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2025. ACM, 2025. p. 765-768.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

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AU - Min, Shaojie

AU - Wang, Shaobin

AU - Luo, Yaxiao

AU - Gao, Min

AU - Gong, Qingyuan

AU - Xiao, Yu

AU - Chen, Yang

N1 - Conference code: 34

PY - 2025/5/23

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N2 - Decentralized online social networks such as Mastodon have emerged quickly during the past years, and offer unique opportunities to investigate user behavior, moderation strategies, and community evolution. However, their decentralized nature imposes challenges for data collection and preprocessing, particularly for obtaining a real-time snapshot in a timely manner. This paper introduces FediLive, a framework designed to rapidly collect and preprocess the live feeds from Mastodon, generate a comprehensive snapshot in real-time, including user-generated contents, interaction networks, and users’ demographic attributes. Such a snapshot could further be leveraged for data analysis from different angles, leading to a deeper understanding of user activities on Mastodon. Using FediLive, we collected a 13-day snapshot of Mastodon, covering the publicly visible activities of all Mastodon users. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of FediLive, and reveals its potential in facilitating data-driven analysis for decentralized online social networks.

AB - Decentralized online social networks such as Mastodon have emerged quickly during the past years, and offer unique opportunities to investigate user behavior, moderation strategies, and community evolution. However, their decentralized nature imposes challenges for data collection and preprocessing, particularly for obtaining a real-time snapshot in a timely manner. This paper introduces FediLive, a framework designed to rapidly collect and preprocess the live feeds from Mastodon, generate a comprehensive snapshot in real-time, including user-generated contents, interaction networks, and users’ demographic attributes. Such a snapshot could further be leveraged for data analysis from different angles, leading to a deeper understanding of user activities on Mastodon. Using FediLive, we collected a 13-day snapshot of Mastodon, covering the publicly visible activities of all Mastodon users. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of FediLive, and reveals its potential in facilitating data-driven analysis for decentralized online social networks.

KW - Decentralized Online Social Networks

KW - Fediverse

KW - Mastodon

KW - Measurement

KW - Preprocessing

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DO - 10.1145/3701716.3715298

M3 - Conference article in proceedings

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EP - 768

BT - WWW Companion 2025 - Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2025

PB - ACM

T2 - The Web Conference

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ER -

FediLive: A Framework for Collecting and Preprocessing Snapshots of Decentralized Online Social Networks

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

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