Mastodon Post Reach: How FediSuite Estimates Your Audience
The Fediverse has no impressions that add up across instances. FediSuite still makes the reach of your posts visible, as a transparently labelled estimate with a net and a gross value.
- Metrics
- Net and gross reach
- Basis
- Followers and boosters
- Model
- FediWings method
- Available for
- Mastodon family
Why reach is hard to measure in the Fediverse
On centralized platforms a server counts every view. In the Fediverse a post is distributed to many instances, and each instance only knows its own users. A number that sums up all views does not exist.
FediSuite therefore takes the information that can be queried publicly and calculates an estimate from it.
How FediSuite calculates post reach
The model follows the FediWings method and takes into account:
- the followers of the original account
- the followers of accounts that boosted the post
- boosts, quotes, favourites and replies as inputs to the net estimate
- an indicator for unattributed boosts; these are not yet included in the calculation
Net reach and gross reach
Gross reach adds the author’s follower count and the stored follower counts of known boosters. It describes a potential distribution pool, not the number of people who actually saw a post. Overlap between follower groups is not deduplicated.
Net reach is a heuristic subset of that pool. Boosts, quotes, favourites and replies affect the model. FediSuite does not know the identities of everyone reached and cannot count overlaps directly.
The detail view of a post shows the individual building blocks of the calculation including the analysis state.
Worked example: 500 followers and 3 boosts
An account has 500 followers. Three known boosters have 300 followers in total, so the potential gross distribution pool is 800. With 10 favourites and 2 replies, the current FediWings heuristic produces a net estimate of 97. Add 2 quotes and the estimate becomes 135; gross stays at 800 because quoted accounts’ follower counts are not included in the booster list.
The formula version is fediwings-heuristic-v2. It has not been validated against Fediverse impressions; its initial calibration came from Instagram stories. Use these figures primarily to compare posts and trends within the same account, not as a measured audience count.
What the estimate is not
It is not a server-side measured impression. FediSuite therefore labels the estimate as a model and explains the method in the app.
Older posts are calculated with the account’s current follower count. Importing them later can distort historical comparisons. If older booster records are no longer available through the API, the analysis is only partial.
Instances can delete boost entries for old posts while the counter remains. FediSuite therefore does not reduce stored counters or booster lists.
Which platforms offer reach
The estimate uses the booster list of a post and is therefore available for Mastodon and compatible platforms: Pleroma, Akkoma, GoToSocial, Pixelfed, Friendica, Snac, Takahē, Mitra, BizzFed and vutuv. For Misskey and its forks, Vernissage, GNU social, PeerTube, Loops and WordPress, FediSuite analyzes interactions and growth, but not reach.
FediWings: original methodology by Ralf Stockmann
Frequently asked questions
How is reach calculated in the Fediverse?
FediSuite adds the follower count of the author and known boosters into a potential gross distribution pool. A heuristic estimates net reach from that pool and interaction signals. Follower overlap is not directly measured.
What is the difference between net and gross reach?
Gross is a potential distribution pool based on follower counts; net is a modeled comparison value derived from it. Neither number is a measured impression or a deduplicated person count.
Are these real impressions?
No. Only the instance that displayed a post knows its impressions. FediSuite provides an estimate and says so openly.
Why does the reach of old posts not shrink?
Instances eventually delete the boost entries of old posts while the boost counter stays. FediSuite never reduces stored counters and booster lists, so values do not shrink because of deletions on other instances.
Is reach available for PeerTube or Misskey?
No, the booster list the estimate relies on is missing there. FediSuite still analyzes interactions and growth on those platforms.
Related
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Mastodon Analytics
Reach, boosts, follower growth and hashtags of your Mastodon account.
-
Best time to post
Heatmap by weekday and hour, calculated from your own posts.
-
Content calendar
Plan, filter and reschedule posts for several accounts in a calendar.
Try FediSuite
The official instance is free. If you want your data in your own house, run FediSuite with Docker on your own server.