The two social networks can come together thanks to this beta bridge that connects two protocols.
The Great Twitter Exodus of 2022 is still happening. It's just a little...fractured. A lot of Twitter power users ended up on Bluesky. A lot of technically inclined individuals are still hanging out on Mastodon (at least, that's where I hang out).
These are two decentralized services, in theory, but users of one service can't really talk to users on the other. It wasn't possible before Bridgy Fed, anyway. This is a beta service that makes it possible for Bluesky and Fediverse-compatible applications, such as Mastodon, to interact. I tested this out with a friend and it works—we now see each other's posts, like each other's posts, and even talk to each other.
Let's back up a little. Mastodon is part of the Fediverse, a collection of services that connect to the same protocol. Threads, another place where a lot of Twitter users ended up, is starting to connect to the Fediverse; WordPress blogs can also connect. This all points to a future where people can use whatever social network they like and follow people who prefer to use a different one, with one problem: Bluesky, despite being decentralized, isn't part of this network.
This is where Bridgy Fed comes in. With this service, individual users of either service can opt in to "bridging" their accounts. I tested this out with my friend and Lifehacker alumni Eric Ravenscraft, who hangs out on Bluesky more than me. It worked well.
Setting up the bridge couldn't be easier: you just need to follow an account.
Mastodon and other Fediverse users need to search for and follow the account @bsky.brid.gy (it's easiest to just search for this—note that some Mastodon instances may be blocking the bridge).
Bluesky users need to follow the account @ap.brid.gy.
That's it! Bridgy Fed will create an account for you that users of the other service can follow. You can now find your account on the other service so you can share it with friends.
If you're a Fediverse user, your new Bluesky account will be @[user].[instance].ap.brid.gy. For example, my Mastodon account @jhpot@mastodon.social becomes @jhpot.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy on Bluesky.
If you're a Bluesky user, your new Fediverse account will be @[handle]@bsky.brid.gy. For example, Eric's Bluesky account @lordravenscraft.bsky.social can be found at @lordravenscraft.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy.
That's a little more complicated than I'd like—it would be great if the service sent a DM letting you know where you new "bridged" profile is. Still, I was able to find my new Bluesky profile pretty quickly. And I was also able to interact with Eric. Here's how the interaction looks from Mastodon, for me:
And here's how it looked from Bluesky, for Eric:
Replies showed up in mentions, the way they normally would, as did likes. If all you want is to be able to organically interact with someone who is using the other network, this works well.
There are a few hangups, though. This only works if both people bridge their accounts. This means I can't see any comments from Bluesky users unless they also are bridged, and that works both ways. A few Mastodon users responded to me and Eric's conversation and Eric could not see those replies. This make sense: only comments from bridged users are bridged. This can create asymmetrical conversations, but the opt-in nature of the bridging service makes this inevitable.
And there are other hangups. Bluesky has a 300-character limit for posts, for one thing, while the Fediverse doesn't have a hard cap. The result: some posts are cut short. I could go on—this is far from a perfect solution. You can, and should, read the documentation to learn more. For the moment, though, it's a way for people who aren't on the same decentralized social ecosystem to talk to each other, and I like that. I'll certainly be bugging friends I want to interact with on Bluesky to "bridge" their accounts.
