Bridging seems like a big selling point if you're migrating an existing chat channel to Matrix. It seems less compelling if you're starting a new one.
Re:Freenode ops take control of 700 channels
by ValentineC on Wednesday May 26, 2021 @12:04PM
(#27292266)
Given how some (open-source-esque) communities work, there'll be people who prefer using their preferred platform (e.g. IRC, Discord, Telegram) even if it doesn't have first class support.
I've been trying Matrix on-and-off, and found it ridiculously complicated to figure out bridging (which is probably Matrix's top selling point, and was important for my communities) on the "official" servers.