"But to continue that analogy, many of your friends can only be reached
across that single tolled bridge on the internet. They probably know
that it's the only bridge, but they don't know anything else (or care)."
That is their own ignorance that is impairing them, not Facebook. They can
make their own bridges or cross free ones if they like.
"Some people say that the bridge toll operator is nice, and would never
unfairly block someone from crossing it. Of course I think that's
bullshit. Facebook can stop you from crossing that bridge whenever they
feel like it."
That is their choice. It's their bridge.
"Whereas other more decentralised, federated protocols like email and
XMPP make users more reachable by other bridges. If one bridge is cut
off, another bridge can always be used. Or maybe there is a ferry you
can catch."
People are free to use those too, but using the Facebook bridge isn't going
to cut-off your freedom to use those other bridges.
