Recently there is quite a lot of back and forth regarding ActivityPub based projects and Bluesky.

I think from my perspective, there is a sense of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) when I see people going to Bluesky, but I have to ask myself, how much value does social media add. While I was never particularly active on Twitter, there was a time where I felt like I was spending too much time scrolling. A bit before Twitter’s big decline, I started using DNS to block it to help curb my urge to check. After Twitter’s big decline it was easier to let go, though I still kept my name there as a redirect though I have decided to avoid posting anything there to avoid supporting the new management.

In the 3D Printing community, there is a common idea that a 3D Printer can either be a project you tinker with, or a tool that just works that you can use. Some (especially older) models require a lot more tinkering while some newer models have become a lot more reliable.

There is a part of Mastodon and some of the ActivityPub based projects that feels more like a project you tinker with. It can take time to understand why sometimes replies are missing or why you can not currently migrate everything to a new instance. From that perspective, Bluesky probably feels more like a tool that users do not have to think about too much.

As for me, I want to be a bit more concious about how much venture capital tech I am relying on, and Bluesky feels like it is repeating history on that front, which I want to try to avoid. For now, I believe I will stick with ActivityPub based systems and maybe even experiment on my own server out of curiosity one day. I understand why many will go to Bluesky and I do not blame them, though I will try to avoid the FOMO myself and not add another time sink.

Though if ActivityPub declines, that might give me some time back and I might even write more on my blog or find more rss feeds to subscribe to.