Users of the decentralized social networks Mastodon and Bluesky can now read, like, and chat with each other. This is made possible by Bridgy Fed technology, TechCrunch reports.
After the sale of Twitter in 2022 to Elon Musk, many users became interested in decentralized analogs. The strength of Mastodon and Bluesky is that they cannot be controlled centrally. Users of these networks are protected from a notional millionaire who wants to remake the network for himself.
Other decentralized social networks are also finding their feet, such as the blockchain-based Farcaster, which just last month received $150 million in funding.
But users of these platforms have been deprived of a common space until now.
Mastodon and Bluesky rely on different underlying protocols. Mastodon uses ActivityPub, while Bluesky uses the newer AT protocol.
Bridgy Fed serves as a bridge between these two networks. Over time, other social networks may support this technology.
Bridgy Fed itself was soft-launched in mid-April and moved to full launch within the last month.
Bridgy Fed is quite simple to use. To transfer your account from fediverse (Mastodon) to Bluesky, go to Mastodon and sign up for @bsky.brid.gy@bsky.brid.gy. After that, you will automatically have a new account available to Bluesky users under your fediverse/Mastodon nickname (where the second @ now has a dot), followed by "ap.brid.gy".
If you want to transfer your Bluesky account to fediverse, you need to subscribe to @ap.bridge.gy. Similarly, you will receive a version of your Bluesky account in fediverse. In this case, the format will be @[username]@bsky.brid.gy.
All your activity, all subscriptions and posts will be reflected on your main account. The technology is still in early beta testing, so there is a risk of glitches and errors.