Bluesky and Mastodon are two decentralized social platforms, meaning they are not controlled by any company or organization, but by independent servers that communicate and connect with each other. This brings many benefits to users such as freedom of speech, data security, customization and community participation. However, this also causes a big problem: compatibility between different platforms.
Bluesky is a new project developed by an independent company, but with the support of Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter. Bluesky uses a new protocol called AT Protocol, which allows different servers to exchange information and create a large social network. Mastodon is a decentralized social platform that has been around since 2016, with over 4 million users on over 2 thousand servers. Mastodon uses another protocol called ActivityPub, which also allows servers to connect with each other, but not compatible with AT Protocol.
Therefore, Bluesky and Mastodon users cannot communicate with each other naturally, but have to go through a bridge called Bridgy Fed. This is a project developed by an independent programmer named Ryan Barrett, aiming to allow users of these two platforms to follow, message and share content with each other. However, this project has caused a lot of controversy between the Bluesky and Mastodon communities.
Some Mastodon users think that Bridgy Fed is an invasion of their privacy and autonomy, because it can take and transfer their personal data to Bluesky without their consent. They are also worried that Bluesky is a project related to Twitter, a company that they do not trust in terms of security and censorship. They think that Mastodon already has a large and diverse community, and does not need to link with Bluesky or any other platform.
-1707967033.jpg)
Some Bluesky users think that Bridgy Fed is an opportunity to expand their scope and interaction, because Mastodon is a platform with many users and attractive content. They also think that Bluesky is an independent and transparent project, not influenced by Twitter or any third party. They think that Bridgy Fed will respect the choice of users, because it will require their consent before transferring data between the two platforms.
Meanwhile, Barrett, the developer of Bridgy Fed, said that he just wanted to create a useful tool for users, without any intention of infringing or taking data from anyone. He also changed the way Bridgy Fed works to allow users to choose whether to link their accounts or not, and to cancel at any time.
So, do we need a bridge between Bluesky and Mastodon? The answer may depend on the perspective and needs of each user. Some may find it a way to connect with more people, some may find it a risk to their safety. Anyway, this is also an issue of concern, because it relates to the future of decentralized social platforms, a trend that is increasingly popular and has a great impact on the way we communicate and share on the internet.