Bluesky sees significant growth
Bluesky is on a roll with a surge of new users.
As of this writing, they have over 18 million users. If you’re unsure what Bluesky is, it’s a social media platform that functions exactly the same as Twitter–aka X. Bluesky, right now, is among the top alternatives, if you’re looking for a new community board to consume micro-content.
Bluesky was founded by Jack Dorsey, who is, ironically, also the founder of Twitter.
The biggest difference is that users can tailor their own algorithms. This means fewer rage-baiting posts, and more content that you actually want to engage with–and get actual engagement.
I was fortunate enough to get in Bluesky early during its invite-only phase. And the feeling there was what you probably felt Twitter was over ten years ago.
Bluesky is decentralized, which can be a bit tricky to explain -- I'm still trying to grasp it 120% myself. Think of Bluesky as one big open space, where people, or developers, can set up their own little coffee shops. Each coffee shop is operated by someone else, with their own communities and policies. As a user, you’re not tied to just one coffee shop. You’re free to explore and engage in other coffee shops. The biggest draw, I think, is that you own your content, rather than the platform owning it.
So, if you like to write in one coffee shop with a laptop. Then this coffee shop suddenly changed its rules, rules that don't really fit with your needs, then you can simply move to another coffee shop while taking your laptop and all its contents with you.
Unlike in other platforms, you don’t bring your laptop in their coffee shop. They will provide you their own laptop–maybe we should call it working station?–and then when you decide to leave this coffee shop, you can’t take that laptop out, and you can’t take out its contents that you made–at least without going through a lot of pain.
In Bluesky, you’re not locked in one server and its ecosystem.
To some of the average users, this may not be a big deal. But to others, it is.
As of this writing, Bluesky said they have over 18 million users, which may pose a significant challenge for the platform’s team of twenty. But to support their operations, Bluesky is relying on AI. They are quick to stress though, that the AI they are using is not generative, and this AI will not be trained with users’ content. Bluesky said the AI will only help with content moderation and shield moderators from harmful content.
Bluesky said they will offer a paid subscription. This subscription will not give users a blue checkmark, and neither will it also boost user visibility. Instead, this paid version will allow users to upload videos with better quality and some profile customizations. The absence of ads in Bluesky will mean the company won’t be tied to the whims of advertisers.
It’s uncertain how this will sustain Bluesky in the near future. If not enough users go for the paid tier, then the company will have to continue to find ways to sustain their business operations. But for now, it looks like the Bluesky team is tackling this with one issue at a time.
For now, go check out Bluesky.