In the quest for a Twitter alternative, the sky appears to be bluer with Bluesky. Ever since Elon Musk’s bid to acquire Twitter, dissenting voices have been seeking refuge on platforms like Mastodon, Substack Notes, and T2. However, none of these alternatives has truly captured the essence of Twitter, except for Bluesky.
Bluesky, currently in its beta phase and available only by invitation, is gaining traction rapidly. While the app boasts around 50,000 users, it has been downloaded over 375,000 times, according to estimates from data.ai.
The demand for invites has become so high that they are even being sold on eBay, though it is not advisable to purchase them.
Here’s everything you need to know about Bluesky:
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a decentralized social app conceptualized by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developed alongside Twitter. This Twitter-like platform features a federated design, community-specific moderation, and an algorithmic choice.
Bluesky employs an open-source framework called the AT Protocol, which ensures transparency and allows external stakeholders to understand its development process.
Jack Dorsey introduced the Bluesky project in 2019 when he was still Twitter CEO. Initially, he planned for Twitter to adopt the decentralized standard built by a small team of open-source architects, engineers, and designers.
However, after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, Bluesky became completely detached from the platform. Dorsey himself has used Bluesky as a medium to express his dissatisfaction with Musk’s leadership.
How do you use Bluesky?
Upon receiving an invitation, users can create a handle in the format of @username.bsky.social, along with a display name that appears in bold text. Bluesky operates similarly to Twitter, allowing users to create posts of up to 256 characters, including photos.
Posts can be replied to, retweeted, liked, reported, shared, or copied as text. Users can follow others and view their updates on the “Home” timeline.
The “What’s Hot” timeline showcases engaging posts, while user profiles contain profile pictures, background information, bios, metrics, and follower counts. Profiles have two sections: posts and posts & replies.
Bluesky also offers a “Discover” tab, suggesting accounts to follow and displaying recently posted updates.
How do I get invited to Bluesky?
New Bluesky users receive one invite code every two weeks. The company monitors the social graph and rewards trustworthy users with additional invite codes to distribute.
Bluesky views the invite code system as part of the open-source tool it’s developing, which will help server administrators curate and moderate their communities effectively.
Who’s on Bluesky?
As of April 2023, Bluesky has amassed 50,000 users on its platform. Prominent figures and organizations, such as Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Twitter exile NPR, have found a new home on Bluesky.
Does Bluesky function like Twitter?
In many ways, Bluesky operates similarly to Twitter. However, it currently lacks direct messages (DMs) and some advanced features like creating account lists. Additionally, Twitter does not utilize a decentralized protocol like ActivityPub or AT, which Bluesky adopts.
Bluesky’s Journey
Initially, Bluesky started as a project led by Jack Dorsey in 2019 during his tenure as Twitter CEO. However, since its establishment in 2021, Bluesky has become an independent company.
Is Bluesky free?
Yes, Bluesky is currently accessible only through invite codes and is free to use.
How does Bluesky generate revenue?
Bluesky aims to sustain its network without relying on advertising by offering paid services. On July 5, Bluesky announced additional seed round funding and introduced a paid service that allows users to have custom domains as their handles on the platform.
Is Bluesky decentralized?
Yes, Bluesky is decentralized. The team is developing the AT Protocol, a decentralized framework that Bluesky is built upon.
While the beta phase restricts users to the bsky.social network, Bluesky intends to be federated, enabling individual communities to operate within the open-source network.
If a developer outside of Bluesky builds a new social app using the AT Protocol, Bluesky users will be able to migrate their followers, handles, and data to the new app seamlessly.
Can Bluesky be customized?
Yes, Bluesky provides customization options. In May, Bluesky introduced custom feeds or algorithms that allow users to subscribe to different types of posts.
These custom feeds can be pinned as separate tabs on the timeline, accessible under the “My Feeds” menu in the app’s sidebar.
Is Bluesky available on iOS and Android?
Yes, Bluesky is available on both iOS and Android platforms. While it currently lacks a web app, logging in and accessing staging.bsky.app opens up the Bluesky experience in a browser.
Are Bluesky posts called “skeets”?
While there is no official term for posts on Bluesky, users have adopted the name “skeets,” a combination of “tweet” and “sky.” Despite objections from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber and others, the term “skeets” remains popular among users.
What’s the deal with the “hellthread”?
The “hellthread” was a chaotic phenomenon. Due to an overwhelming number of responses to a particular thread, notifications became overwhelming and muting the post became impossible. Consequently, the thread split into multiple sub-threads, creating confusion.
The developer responsible for fixing the issue was unavailable over the weekend, allowing the “hellthread” to persist. Participants experienced everything from sharing nudes and playing tic-tac-toe to finding love within the thread.
Replying to the “hellthread” meant getting trapped in its notifications without being able to see the entire thread clearly. It became a unique experience, akin to navigating a complex tree structure.
To quote Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, every bug that persists long enough becomes a feature.
Also, there was a duck bot that humorously replied to the “hellthread” with “😔🐥 No 💸, no qwack…”
Bluesky vs. Mastodon
While Bluesky shares similarities with Mastodon in terms of architecture, users find Bluesky more intuitive. Mastodon’s sign-up process and established posting norms can be intimidating for newcomers. Recently, Mastodon simplified its sign-up flow, making Mastodon.social the default server for new users to enhance competitiveness.
Ownership of Bluesky
Although Jack Dorsey funded Bluesky and serves on its board, he is not involved in day-to-day development. Jay Graber, a former software engineer for Zcash and the founder of Happening, is the CEO of Bluesky.
If you have further questions about Bluesky, feel free to leave a comment below.