News Summary

Bounce, a new service developed by the nonprofit organization A New Social, has launched a tool that enables users to migrate their accounts between open social networks like Bluesky and Mastodon. This cross-protocol migration tool addresses the current limitations of account migration due to the differing underlying protocols of these platforms—Bluesky’s AT Protocol and Mastodon’s ActivityPub Protocol. Initially, Bounce allows users to move their accounts from Bluesky to Mastodon or Pixelfed, but not the reverse. This limitation is due to Bluesky’s current infrastructure, which does not support migrations back to its servers. The launch of Bounce is particularly timely for Bluesky users in Mississippi, where the service has been blocked following the introduction of a new age assurance law. Bounce aims to provide these users with the ability to transfer their accounts to other platforms. Early adopters and open web enthusiasts are encouraged to try the beta version of Bounce, although they should be aware that returning to Bluesky is not yet possible once their accounts are moved.