Bluesky is a decentralized, text-based social media platform. Here’s everything you need to know about Bluesky…
Elon Musk’s Twitter, or now known as X, is starting to lose its popularity due to Elon Musk. This can be understood from the focus of attention shifting to a series of new social media or microblogging applications. Now, new social media platforms are in a race to capture users abandoning Twitter. Today, we will talk about one of these social media platforms, Bluesky.
Like Mastodon, Bluesky is built on a decentralized, open-source protocol and is an invite-only social network. It is progressing towards becoming the new Twitter. One of the most popular alternatives that stands out as a Twitter alternative along with Mastodon and Threads, Bluesky Social has reached an active user base of 2 million as of January 2024!
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a decentralized social network initiated by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey before Twitter was sold. Its decentralized structure stems from the AT Protocol developed by the Bluesky team, providing transparency on how the application is created and functions.
Users choose a username that appears as “@username.bsky.social” to use Bluesky Social. You can also customize the part after “@” If you prefer. For instance, when you verify Bluesky DNS settings through your company’s domain, your username can appear as @yourusername.yourcompany.com. This feature allows you to have a completely personalized username.
Celebrities and politicians are joining the rival of Twitter, Bluesky
Due to features like purchasing verified accounts and subscriptions on Twitter, along with the arbitrary decisions made by platform owner Elon Musk, users are experiencing confusion. Users have already found an alternative to Twitter: Bluesky!
Many famous personalities and politicians prefer Bluesky due to its similarities with Twitter. Among the latest names to join the social network are U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, comedian-writer Dril, and model Chrissy Teigen. Like everyone else, they have secured their spots on Bluesky by using invite codes.
Bluesky Social closely resembles Twitter in terms of usage. There is a 300-character limit for text when sharing a post. Similar to Twitter, you can also add photos to your posts. Additionally, you can customize the language of your post by selecting the desired language from the list.
Beyond these features, you can also adjust who can reply to your post. When you publish a post using the “New Post” button, other users can repost and like your posts. If what you share is intended for adults only, you can personalize this setting as well.
1. The Good Feature of Bluesky Social
- User Control and Timeline Management: Bluesky stands out by emphasizing user autonomy in determining how their posts and content will be controlled. This provides a more personalized and empowering user experience.
- Open Source and Decentralized Structure: Unlike many mainstream platforms, Bluesky operates on an open-source model that encourages transparency and community engagement.
- Independence from Larger Organizations: Despite initial funding and ties to Twitter, Bluesky operates independently to avoid influencing decisions by larger corporations.
- Account Portability: One of Bluesky’s notable features is the AT Protocol, allowing users to move their accounts to another social media platform without losing data or followers. This supports user freedom and reduces loyalty to a single platform.
- Custom Domain Names: Users can set a distinctive private domain name to add a personalized touch, and Bluesky Social integrates features that enable users to directly purchase and manage their domain names through the platform.
- Fun and Liberating Environment: The platform offers a refreshing environment where users can share a diverse range of content, from the beautiful blue sky to personal anecdotes, without feeling overly promotional.
- Flexibility in Content Moderation: Developers managing servers can adjust content moderation policies, providing a more adaptable approach to content editing. Bluesky also encourages community involvement in the content moderation process, including community tagging as part of the moderation strategy.
2. Bad Feature of Bluesky Social
- Monetization uncertainty: The specific strategies Bluesky plans to employ for revenue generation remain uncertain, casting a shadow on its long-term sustainability and potential impact on user experience. The lack of clarity raises concerns about a possible shift towards centralization, especially if profit becomes a predominant focus, jeopardizing the foundational principles of the platform.
- Limited Decentralization in Practice: Despite presenting itself as a decentralized platform, Bluesky Social currently stands as the sole site utilizing the AT Protocol. This constraint hampers the full realization of decentralization’s potential benefits. Some users express skepticism about Bluesky’s genuine commitment to decentralization, citing its for-profit nature as a potential deterrent.
- Content Moderation Challenges: The adaptability of content moderation, although a strength, poses challenges as well. Varied moderation policies across different servers may result in inconsistent user experiences and create potential safe havens for harmful content.
- Dependency on Twitter’s Infrastructure: Despite asserting its independence, Bluesky Social heavily depends on Twitter’s infrastructure, particularly evident in its “birdwatch” feature. This reliance introduces potential challenges, particularly in scenarios where disagreements or conflicts arise between the two platforms.
- Potential for Echo Chambers: The customization options allowing users to tailor content feeds and moderation policies raise the risk of echo chambers forming. This scenario may limit interactions to like-minded individuals, restricting exposure to diverse viewpoints.
- Growing Pains: As a relatively new platform, Bluesky Social is undergoing technical and operational refinement. Users may encounter bugs, downtimes, or other challenges during this scaling phase.
3. Ugly Feature of Bluesky Social
- Challenges with Community-Centric Moderation: Relying heavily on automated and community-centric content moderation can lead to biases, inconsistencies, and potential misuse. Without a centrally managed moderation system overseen by humans, harmful content may not be uniformly addressed across the platform. This concern was particularly evident in Bluesky’s failure to protect Black users and other marginalized groups from racism on the platform. The platform did not prevent users from using racist slurs in their account identifiers, resulting in significant backlash.
- Inconsistent Communication: Bluesky’s inconsistent communication raises questions about the company’s commitment and approach to addressing these issues. Users also noted the team’s refusal to publicly acknowledge mistakes made in handling situations, contributing to a lack of trust.
- Potential for the Spread of Misinformation: Bluesky’s decentralized structure, combined with user-centric content moderation, creates an environment where misinformation or harmful narratives may spread uncontrollably.
- Lack of Clarity on Data Privacy: While Bluesky promises user control and data ownership, details about how user data is processed, stored, and potentially shared remain unclear. This lack of transparency can be unsettling for privacy-conscious users.
- Potential Fragmentation of the Platform: The ability for everyone to customize their server’s moderation policies can lead to a fragmented user experience. Users may find themselves in vastly different “versions” of Bluesky depending on the policies of the servers they connect to.
Should you join Bluesky Social?
Despite its benefits and even downsides, joining Bluesky should not yet become part of your social media strategy. It’s still in its infancy and needs time to evolve into a worthwhile platform for reaching your audience. It also doesn’t have a large enough user base to justify a focus of resources and energy on it.
Bluesky is definitely worth exploring, especially if you’re on the lookout for a platform that offers a different feel than Twitter.
