decentralized

In tech speak, decentralized refers to a computer network that is controlled by several local networks and data is distributed across multiple nodes, rather than being managed by one single network. This is designed to make the network more secure, reliable, and autonomous.

Historical perspective: In 2024 the social media Bluesky organized to compete with X. One main difference is Bluesky is decentralised, which basically means users can host their data on servers other than those owned by the company. This also means that rather than being limited to having a specific account named after Bluesky, for example having ".bsky.social" at the end of their username, people can sign up using an account they themselves own.