About Keyboard Vagabond
We welcome you to this space to connect with others, share information, create memories, and help each other to travel responsibly and considerately as we explore the world.
Here, you are a member, not just a user - We want to create community in this space, being respectful of each other as well as the places we go and the people we see. This space is what we make of it.
Social media and online communities for digital nomads
Looking for social media for digital nomads or a remote worker community that isn't driven by ads and algorithms? Keyboard Vagabond is an online community hub built for people who work and travel. Instead of one corporate platform, we connect a suite of federated services—each focused on a different way to connect.
Mastodon handles microblogging and networking, Piefed hosts forums and topic-based discussions, Pixelfed is for sharing travel photos, Bookwyrm covers book clubs and reviews, and Write Freely supports long-form blogging. All of these services talk to each other through the fediverse, so you can follow, reply, and participate across platforms from one nomad-focused community. Learn about our community values, or jump straight to our getting started guide if you are ready to sign up.
Frequently asked questions
What social media do digital nomads use?
Digital nomads often use a mix of platforms depending on their needs. Many join Mastodon for microblogging and networking, Reddit-style forums through Lemmy or Piefed for discussions, and Instagram alternatives like Pixelfed for photo sharing. Keyboard Vagabond offers all of these in one federated community built specifically for nomads and remote workers.
Where can digital nomads find online communities?
Digital nomads can find online communities on Keyboard Vagabond, a hub connecting Mastodon (social posts), Piefed (forums and topics), Pixelfed (photos), Bookwyrm (books), and Write Freely (blogging). Each platform is part of the fediverse, so you can follow and interact across them from a single community focused on travel and remote work.
What is Keyboard Vagabond?
Keyboard Vagabond is an online community and social media hub for digital nomads, remote workers, and travel enthusiasts. It runs a collection of federated services—Mastodon, Piefed, Pixelfed, Bookwyrm, and Write Freely—on community-run infrastructure free of advertising and algorithmic feeds. See our about page for more on how the community works.
How is this different from Facebook or Reddit?
Unlike Facebook or Reddit, Keyboard Vagabond is ad-free, community-run, and has no algorithms harvesting your attention. You control what you see by choosing who and what to follow. The fediverse services connect to each other, so you can participate in forums, photos, and posts from one ecosystem without a corporation monetizing your data.
Detailed Service Information
- Piefed - An alternative to Reddit and similar to and compatible with Lemmy, but with extra features for topics and communities. See more at join-lemmy.org and join.piefed.social.
- Pixelfed - Like old instagram, where you can share your photos, albums, and create stories. See more at pixelfed.org.
- Mastodon - An alternative to twitter. Create your timeline by following users and hashtags. See more at joinmastodon.org.
- Bookwyrm - All about books! Discuss and review books with people across the fediverse. See more at joinbookwyrm.com.
- Write Freely - A minimalist, federated blogging platform. Comment and discuss across the fediverse, such as on mastodon (direct comments aren't available yet, but can be done on Mastodon). See more at writefreely.org.
- Picsur - Like Imgur for image hosting, to use for images in your blogs. You can also use Pixelfed. Contact the admin for Picsur signup, as there's no automated signup process.
- Piefed - Piefed has support in Interstellar (cross platform) and experimental support in Voyager (Android), though features like topics and communities are best served on the website.
- Pixelfed, Mastodon - have native mobile apps
- Lemmy - many of your favorite reddit apps can be used with Lemmy
Signing in - you'll search the server that you want to join, such as mastodon.social or mastodon.keyboardvagabond.com, or use the provided default instances.
What is the Fediverse
The fediverse is a collection of big-tech alternative social media that all communicate with each other using the same protocol, called ActivityPub. This means that not only can different “instances,” such as this community, participate with discussions on other servers, but also with the different applications. You can think of it like email, where people can have accounts with different companies, but can communicate with any other email provider - but on steroids.
You can make a post on Mastodon, tag a community on Lemmy/Piefed and people there can respond. Someone can make a video on PeerTube (Youtube alternative) and discuss on Mastodon. Your Write Freely blog posts will, if you enable it, be visible on Mastodon and people can follow your blog account.
Check out this amazing four minute video by Elena Rossini. You can follow her on Mastodon by searching @_elena@mastodon.social.
Ready to join?
New to the fediverse? Our getting started guide walks you through signing up on Mastodon, Piefed, Pixelfed, and the rest of Keyboard Vagabond, then customizing your feed to find nomads, travelers, and remote workers.