Is the grass truly greener on the other side? While uncertainties persist, the sky certainly appears bluer. It has been over a year since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now X, prompting a migration to alternative platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (now defunct), and Spill have been suggested as potential substitutes, but only a few, including Meta’s Threads, have matched the rapid growth achieved by Bluesky.
Bluesky, currently in invite-only beta, has garnered increasing hype as more users join the platform. The user base has surpassed two million, doubling from the one million reported in September. Bluesky saw an average of 8,300 first-time installs per day in July 2023, though detailed download data has not been released since. Notably, whenever Musk implements unfavorable changes on X, Bluesky experiences a surge in usage.
Now, let’s address common questions about Bluesky social:
1. What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a decentralized social app conceptualized by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developed concurrently with Twitter. It features a Twitter-like interface, algorithmic curation, a federated design, and community-specific moderation. Bluesky utilizes an open-source framework, the AT Protocol, providing transparency to external parties.
2. How do you use Bluesky? Upon receiving an invitation, users create a handle represented as @username.bsky.social and a display name. The app functions like a minimalist Twitter, allowing posts of up to 256 characters with photos. Bluesky lacks DMs and advanced tools found on Twitter but emphasizes openness with the AT Protocol.
3. How do I get invited to Bluesky? New users receive one invite code every two weeks. The invite system is based on social graph monitoring, rewarding trustworthy users with more invite codes.
4. Who’s on Bluesky? As of July 2023, Bluesky had over a million downloads and a million users, attracting figures like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Neil Gaiman, and Chelsea Manning, as well as organizations and journalists.
5. Does Bluesky work like Twitter? In many aspects, yes, but it lacks features like DMs and advanced tools. Bluesky is an independent company since 2021, detached from Twitter since Elon Musk’s acquisition.
6. Is Bluesky free? Yes, but it currently operates on an invite-only basis.
7. How does Bluesky make money? Bluesky aims to sustain itself without relying on advertising by introducing paid services, including custom domains for user handles.
8. Is Bluesky decentralized? Yes, Bluesky is developing the decentralized AT Protocol, aiming to be federated, allowing independently operated communities within the open-source network.
9. Is Bluesky secure? Bluesky improved account security in October 2023, adding email verification to enhance authentication.
10. Is Bluesky customizable? Yes, Bluesky introduced custom feeds in May, allowing users to subscribe to different algorithms for personalized content.
11. Is Bluesky on iOS and Android? Yes, Bluesky is available on both platforms, with a third-party app called GraySky also launched.
12. Are Bluesky posts called ‘skeets’? While technically unnamed, users often refer to posts as “skeets,” a blend of “tweet” and “sky.”
13. How does Bluesky tackle misinformation? Bluesky warns users of misleading links, flagging them if they don’t match the post’s text, enhancing accountability.
14. Has Bluesky faced controversies? Bluesky has grappled with moderation issues, including accusations of failing to protect marginalized users and moderate racist content.
15. What was the ‘hellthread’? The ‘hellthread’ involved overwhelming responses to a single thread, causing chaos with broken notifications and uncontrollable sub-threads.
16. What’s the difference between Bluesky and Mastodon? While both share similar architectures, users find Bluesky more intuitive compared to Mastodon’s perceived complexity.
17. Who owns Bluesky? Jack Dorsey funded Bluesky, but day-to-day development is led by CEO Jay Graber, with Dorsey serving on the board.
