AT architecture doesn't make decentralisation easy either. Running a local PDS is one thing; running an independent AppView with all the necessary backend components at scale is another. Bluesky will always be driven by centralising forces (including crypto-backed VCs), so the US liberal attraction to it while labeling Nostr as crypto-bro tech is the ultimate hypocrisy. They're just smelling their own farts, exactly like the MAGA crowd do on Truth Social.

I don't see real staying power in either of these networks. They're just products of our times and unchecked polarisation.

Nostr has the best hackable / "web-like-best-effort" architecture of any current socialnmedia protocol I’m aware of. There are a few obscure protocols that solve problems Nostr hasn’t yet, but they’re mostly unapproachable for most devs. So, in practice, as decentralised ecosystems those protocols were death at birth.

As much as the average Nostr user tends to be on a different end of the political spectrum from the average ActivityPub user, ActivityPub is currently the only real alternative to Nostr (as in: you can run your own GoToSocial instance on a Raspberry Pi). Sure, mods from larger instances might blacklist you if you go against the grain, but overall, ActivityPub at least offers actual decentralisation to those willing to put in the effort. They're also bigger and a bit more diverse than Nostr. That said, moderation is a pain point (including for mods themselves, many Fediverse instances are shutting down because of this).

I'm not saying we shouldn’t pay attention to what’s happening on Bluesky or copy some of their ideas (like follow packs), but in my opinion, Bluesky is and always has been overhyped, pseudo-decentralised tech.