@zatnosk@activitypubblueskybridge@fedidevs@fediversenews I might be missing something, I don’t follow how this is different to the Fediverse today. Any new server can access & federate from any other, unless the user or the server blocks it (unless I’ve misunderstood!) Wouldn’t this be the same for fed.brid.gy? (But you can also use the hashtag in your profile)
@byjp The difference is that when you post to the Fediverse, you expect your post to be federated within the Fediverse via its native means. One consents to this type of content propagation when they make posts on Fedi.
Bridging is something beyond that, and is not something one consents to when making posts on the Fediverse.
Edit: Please stop boosting this, and check out the replies by much better-informed people!
@eishiya@byjp you should know that Bluesky, once they start federating (which this is directly related to)... is the fediverse as well.
Please do not confuse Mastodon/ActivityPub with the whole fediverse. The fediverse is a wide array of servers and there are many bridges between different protocols out there already.
And on the topic of consent, this is a purely public system. Consent within the fediverse is opt out, when you post publically you are automatically consenting to anyone receiving and transmitting your post however they wish. If you do not wish to provide that consent, you make your post private.
Bridges are a natural part of federation and are key to it's survival as it makes all relevant platforms less likely to collapse.
@Stevie Cat, Daisy Dog & Betty So I guess you're one of those who have joined Mastodon in the second Twitter migration wave in November 2022, and who still "know" that the Fediverse is only Mastodon. Their nice and cosy and fluffy Mastodon.
Well, then I've got a very very uncomfortable and upsetting truth to reveal to you: The Fediverse is not only Mastodon. It is more than just Mastodon.
There's a whole lot more stuff in the Fediverse, and all of it is connected to Mastodon just like Mastodon instances are connected to one another.
For example, there are dozens of other Twitter-like microblogging projects. Mastodon forks such as Glitch or Hometown. Pleroma. Pleroma forks such as Akkoma. Misskey. Dozens of Misskey forks such as Firefish, Iceshrimp, Sharkey, Catodon, Hajkey, Meisskey etc.
There are "Reddit clones" like Lemmy or /kbin.
There is the "Instagram clone" Pixelfed.
There is the YouTube stand-in PeerTube.
There is the Twitch stand-in Owncast.
There are the "Medium clones" WriteFreely and Plume.
There is the "Goodreads clone" BookWyrm.
There are the Facebook alternatives Friendica and (streams) as well as Hubzilla which goes well beyond being a Facebook alternative.
And a lot more.
All this is in the Fediverse, and all this is connected to Mastodon, whether you want or not. It's normal. It's intended. It's the very idea behind the Fediverse. And it has always been the idea behind the Fediverse.
Look at my mentions, how weird they look. Look at my hashtags, how weird they look. Look at this post and how it exceeds 500 characters. Look at my bold type. Look at my italics. All stuff that Mastodon can't do.
But how can I possibly do it if Mastodon can't do it?
Because I'm not on Mastodon. I'm on Hubzilla. Hubzilla is not a Mastodon instance. Hubzilla is not even a Mastodon fork. Hubzilla is developed completely independently from Mastodon. And Hubzilla is almost a year older than Mastodon. And yet, I can read what you've posted, and I can reply to you.
That's because Hubzilla is part of the Fediverse, just like Mastodon is. And it has always been.