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A node is a Dissent server
A computer running Dissent. It holds the servers, channels and accounts that live on it. Communities, friends and hobbyists run them.
How it works
A network, not a company.
Dissent isn't one big service. It's many independent ones, called nodes, that talk to each other.
The basics
Three ideas.
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Nodes connect
Your account lives on one node, but an invite link lets you join a server on any other. Messages, presence and typing flow between them.
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Nobody's in charge
There's no central server. If one node goes offline, every other node keeps working.
Trust
Each node decides who it trusts.
Whoever runs a node can mark other nodes as trusted or blocked. Invite links still work between nodes that haven't met yet.
Choosing a node
Pick a home you trust.
Whoever runs your node can read the ordinary channels on it, though not your encrypted messages. So pick one run by people you trust, or run your own.