Bounce, a new technology that adds a critical component to the open social web, launches to the public on Monday. The cross-protocol migration tool offers a service that allows users of open social networks like Bluesky and Mastodon to move their follow graphs between their accounts, even though the networks rely on different underlying protocols.
Today, Mastodon users unhappy with the service can opt to move their account to a different Mastodon server, while Bluesky is developing technology that allows users to migrate their account to a new PDS (Bluesky’s term for “personal data server”) on its network. However, Mastodon runs on the ActivityPub Protocol and Bluesky on the AT Protocol, which has limited the ability to migrate accounts across the two platforms until now.
To work, Bounce uses technology first developed for Bridgy Fed, a tool that connects Mastodon and Bluesky by making users’ profiles on one service visible on the other.
To move accounts, Bounce first moves a user’s Bluesky account to a bridged account that straddles the two networks, then to the user’s Mastodon account. This migration also supports Pixelfed, an Instagram-like social app that also runs on ActivityPub, like Mastodon.
At launch, Bounce can migrate users from Bluesky to Mastodon or Pixelfed, but not the other way around. That’s because Bluesky’s infrastructure currently only allows users to move off their servers, but doesn’t allow migrations back. When that changes, Bounce will launch migration in the opposite direction, too.
In addition, early adopters should be aware that once they move their account off of Bluesky, they won’t be able to use their Bluesky credentials to log into the app again or other AT Protocol-based services again.
Developed by a nonprofit called A New Social, which is also the maker of Bridgy Fed, Bounce’s launch is particularly timely for Bluesky users in Mississippi. On Friday, Bluesky announced that it would block its service in the state rather than comply with a new age assurance law that it considers overly invasive from a privacy standpoint and that would require too many resources for Bluesky’s small team to manage. This has left Bluesky users in the state without access to the social network, highlighting the need for tools that would allow users to take their accounts elsewhere.
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Bounce’s beta is available starting Monday and is aimed at early adopters and open web enthusiasts who are willing to try the service and offer feedback. While the service is open to the public, users should familiarize themselves with the migration process before making the commitment to move their accounts, given that it’s not yet possible to move back to Bluesky after they leave.
