Use 'Bridgy Fed' to Connect Mastodon and Bluesky
lifehacker.com
Users on Mastodon can't really talk to users on Bluesky, both of which are increasingly popular alternatives to X. 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.

The Great Twitter Exodus of 2022 is still happening. It’s just a little…fractured. A lot of X power users migrated to Bluesky early on, which paved the way for a flood of folks to join that service in 2024. Meanwhile, a lot of technically inclined individuals are still hanging out on Mastodon (at least, that’s where I hang out).

Bluesky and Mastodon are both decentralized services, in theory, but users of one service can’t really talk to users on the other—or it wasn’t possible before Bridgy Fed, anyway. It’s a beta service that makes it possible for Bluesky and Fediverse-compatible applications, such as Mastodon, to interact.

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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—we can now see each other’s posts, like each other’s posts, and even talk to each other, cross-network.

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While this solution works well, there are a few hangups. Chiefly, it only functions if both people bridge their accounts. This means I can’t see any comments from Bluesky users unless they also are bridged, and vice versa: During our little test, a few other Mastodon users responded to my conversation with Eric, but Eric could not see those replies. This make sense if you know how the system works—only comments from bridged users are bridged—but it’s hardly ideal, and can lead to asymmetrical conversations. Unfortunately, the opt-in nature of the bridging service makes this inevitable.

If you are already using Bridgy Fed, how is it working out for you?

  • Uli@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    1·
    5 hours ago

    I’ve never been on Twitter/X, Bluesky, or Mastodon. But maybe I’d like to try.

    So far I can’t decide because I prefer Activity Pub in principle, but always felt FOMO with Twitter and don’t want the same thing to happen with Bluesky.

    I think the best of both worlds would be if I could make an account on both and have one account essentially repost anything from the main account, unless I’m replying to someone specifically where it wouldn’t make sense to reply on both accounts.

    Not sure if this bridge is a step in that direction, but it’s far more important to me that everyone can see what I post on both sides than it is that people from both sides can reach me on a singular account. Not sure if others feel the same way.

    • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝@feddit.ukOPEnglish
      4·
      3 hours ago

      I think the best of both worlds would be if I could make an account on both and have one account essentially repost anything from the main account, unless I’m replying to someone specifically where it wouldn’t make sense to reply on both accounts.

      That’s what I’d want from a bridge - something to connect an account at each end. If/when Bluesky suffers enshittification, it would mean that folks on Bluesky could just switch the direction of the bridge and start posting in the Fediverse. No sunk cost leaving you hanging on, no high barrier to moving.