@Zedex@snouts.online Instances are “federated”, meaning each site communicates with other sites in the network that it trusts. In the case of Snouts (from what I’ve read; I’m over on Awoo), many of the furry-adjacent instances are already trusted.
When you follow someone on another instance, you basically get a copy of what they’re posting from there. And when you reply, the same thing works in the other direction.
@Zedex@snouts.online But yeah, you should be able to talk to folks on other instances by following them from yours, and including the host of their instance in the string. Like I am “@ Goldkin @ awoo.space”, and I see you on my end as “@ Zedex @ snouts.online”, without the spaces.
@Zedex@snouts.online (Following them _or_ including the host string to chat with them, pardon.)
@Zedex@snouts.online This also means in the case of direct messages across instances, you’re sending the data to another server, so be aware of that if you use them.
I guess it’s a similar arrangement to USENET, if you ever had the chance to use that way, way, way back in the day.