With Amino having shut down — could the Fediverse be a good alternative?
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Lately, on Reddit, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about Amino shutting down or ceasing operations, which got me thinking.
For anyone unfamiliar: Amino is/was a mobile-first platform built around interest-based communities (fandoms, hobbies, media franchises, etc.). Each “Amino” functioned like its own mini-social network with:
Dedicated community spaces
User profiles
Posts, blogs, polls, and comments
Group chats & DMs
A strong emphasis on fandom and niche interests
It filled a space somewhere between forums, Discord, and social media — especially popular with fandoms and younger communities.
After seeing so many shutdown posts, I had a random thought:
What if there were a Fediverse-based alternative (or answer) to Amino?
Something like:
Federated, interest-specific communities
Community autonomy/moderation
Profiles that persist across instances
Discovery of niche fandoms without being locked into one corporate platform
I know that platforms like Mastodon, Lemmy, Kbin, Misskey, Friendica, etc. already exist, but none of them seem to directly replicate Amino’s “many micro-communities under one umbrella” vibe — especially with a mobile-friendly, fandom-first focus.
Personally, I’d love to help something like this exist — but realistically, I don’t have the time, energy, or technical knowledge to build or maintain such a project. This is more of a “thought experiment + community question” than a proposal.
So I’m curious what the Fediverse crowd thinks:
Does a Fediverse alternative to Amino already exist and I’ve just missed it?
Is the Fediverse even a good fit for that kind of community structure?
What challenges would something like this face (moderation, UX, onboarding, federation)?
Do you think displaced Amino communities would actually migrate to the Fediverse?
Interested to hear thoughts from people more familiar with Fediverse architecture and community dynamics.
There's also apparently a spiritual successor in Kyodo
-
Lately, on Reddit, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about Amino shutting down or ceasing operations, which got me thinking.
For anyone unfamiliar: Amino is/was a mobile-first platform built around interest-based communities (fandoms, hobbies, media franchises, etc.). Each “Amino” functioned like its own mini-social network with:
Dedicated community spaces
User profiles
Posts, blogs, polls, and comments
Group chats & DMs
A strong emphasis on fandom and niche interests
It filled a space somewhere between forums, Discord, and social media — especially popular with fandoms and younger communities.
After seeing so many shutdown posts, I had a random thought:
What if there were a Fediverse-based alternative (or answer) to Amino?
Something like:
Federated, interest-specific communities
Community autonomy/moderation
Profiles that persist across instances
Discovery of niche fandoms without being locked into one corporate platform
I know that platforms like Mastodon, Lemmy, Kbin, Misskey, Friendica, etc. already exist, but none of them seem to directly replicate Amino’s “many micro-communities under one umbrella” vibe — especially with a mobile-friendly, fandom-first focus.
Personally, I’d love to help something like this exist — but realistically, I don’t have the time, energy, or technical knowledge to build or maintain such a project. This is more of a “thought experiment + community question” than a proposal.
So I’m curious what the Fediverse crowd thinks:
Does a Fediverse alternative to Amino already exist and I’ve just missed it?
Is the Fediverse even a good fit for that kind of community structure?
What challenges would something like this face (moderation, UX, onboarding, federation)?
Do you think displaced Amino communities would actually migrate to the Fediverse?
Interested to hear thoughts from people more familiar with Fediverse architecture and community dynamics.
There's also apparently a spiritual successor in Kyodo
@teknevra@lemmy.world The work done by the developers, and @julian@activitypub.space in particular, has transformed NodeBB from a forum platform to a federated platform with categories that can be used by users of other NodeBB servers, as well as Lemmy and Mastodon users.
I recommend checking out some public NodeBB servers (my server, however, isn't suitable for you, as it's reserved for an Italian audience).
