You may have recently heard about a new social media platform, Bluesky, that has seemingly seen a huge influx of users over the past few months.
Bluesky is a microblogging app, similar to X (formerly Twitter), that allows users to share text up to 300 characters, 60 second videos and a maximum of 4 images per post. There are plenty of additional features, from creating threads, to pinning posts and sharing direct messages – and as the platform grows, the list of clever features grows with it.
So, why is ANOTHER social media platform on the scene – and do we all need to jump on the hype? In this blog, we’ll be exploring what makes Bluesky unique, why so many people are leaving X to join it, and the ultimate question: is it a flash-in-the-pan or will it last the test of social media time?
Why are so many people joining Bluesky now?
By mid-November 2024, more than 19 million people have joined Bluesky.
Plenty of high-profile names have been known to have left X for the platform, such as Steven King, Lizzo and Greg Davies to name but a few – and even more interestingly, media organisations like The Guardian have taken the leap.
But why?
A large driver of the mass exodus of X is its owner, Elon Musk’s, high-profile support of Donald Trump during the 2024 US election. Many X users were worried about potentially false or misleading claims shared by Musk on the platform, with an indication that people believe X may become more of an echo-chamber for right-wing supporters.
The Guardian summed up this sentiment while sharing their reasons for leaving the platform, ‘This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism. The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.’
What makes Bluesky different?
Bluesky describes themselves as, ‘a social app that is designed to not be controlled by a single company. We’re creating a version of social media where it’s built by many people, and it still comes together as a cohesive, easy-to-use experience.’
Essentially, Bluesky allows people to customise their own feed, giving the user complete freedom of choice. Instead of a centralised – and often almost mystical – algorithm presenting the content it deems most appropriate/interesting/valuable, users can create and share their own algorithms. Bluesky puts the power back into the hands of the content creators and consumers.
The key features of this new platform include:
A focus on decentralisation
Traditional social networks are often closed platforms with a central authority. A small group of people own and operate the companies, with total control over how people can use it.
Bluesky uses something called an ‘AT Protocol’ which means that people outside of the company have transparency into what’s being developed and how it’s built. In fact, anyone can access and develop their own social app – and the open-source platform allows different social media apps to talk to one another. Although it can sound fairly complicated if you aren’t tech-savvy (aka: us), all you really need to know is that it’s focus is to ensure that the control ultimately remains with the end user.
Robust blocking features
The blocking features of Bluesky are notoriously strict.
In an effort to combat online hate and trolling, when someone is blocked on the platform, it completely prevents any interactions and removes any connection between the user and the person they blocked.
It’s worth being aware that blocks on Bluesky are public, so that all servers across the network know they exist, allowing them to respect the user’s request.
Options to customise your feed
One of the most lauded features of the platform is the ability for users to customise their own feeds, thus escaping the narrow and frustrating margins of an unknowable algorithm.
Users can choose their own timeline, from simply chronological order, to prioritising certain things such as posts with only photos of cake… custom feeds put the social media experience back within the user’s control.
A stance against training AI
While X has recently amended its terms of service to include the training of AI through public posts, Bluesky has publicly confirmed that it does not train AI on user content and has no intention of doing so.
With creators and artists worried about plagiarism and the ownership of their own content on other social media sites, Bluesky’s reassurances offer a seemingly safer space for people to share their creations freely.
No advertisements (at time of publishing)
Although the company has acknowledged that as it expands, it will likely need to explore future potential to generate income, there are currently no ads on Bluesky.
Despite gaining millions of followers a day towards the end of 2024, the platform is still in its infancy, and it has shared that a number of options are being discussed as it grows. For now, we can only watch this space – and enjoy ad-free content of our own curation.
Is Bluesky the future of social media?
So, what are our thoughts on yet another social media platform emerging?
Although Bluesky seems like a promising and more level-footed opportunity for content creators and users to share and consume what really matters to them, we can’t help but consider the idea of social media platform fatigue (that’s a new phrase and we’re coining it!).
With the likes of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Tik Tok and LinkedIn all making a grab for our attention, we can’t help but wonder if users really going to have the energy to engage with a new platform.
However, those users that have always preferred the microblogging appeal of X – without the perceived toxicity – may very well lean toward this app as the new ‘go-to’, especially if more reliable news and information outlets migrate there.
Of course, time will most certainly tell, but with the explosion of growth going into 2025, Bluesky will definitely be one to watch. And who knows, if the AT Protocol creates the opportunity for more transparent and open platforms, perhaps the future landscape of social media as we know it will drastically change…