Bluesky, a social network co-founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, has opened its doors to the public, allowing anyone to create an account and join the platform. Previously, users needed an invitation to join Bluesky, which gave the site time to develop moderation tools and other features. Although Bluesky is similar to Twitter in many ways, it currently does not offer direct messaging between users, but it does provide more customization options. The platform displays posts from accounts you follow in a linear timeline by default, but users can switch to algorithm-driven timelines created by others. Bluesky plans to allow users to move their data to competing social networks in the future.
Bluesky intends to become “the last social account you’ll ever need to create,” according to a cartoon page included in the announcement. However, making social networks interoperable, or federating, is a complex task. Other platforms like Mastodon and Meta’s Threads service already use a federation algorithm called ActivityPub, allowing users to move between them. Threads has already begun this process by allowing users to follow and interact with Bluesky accounts. It remains to be seen how successful Bluesky will be in achieving its goal of seamless data portability between social networks.
While Bluesky’s move to open its platform to the public is a significant step, it will face stiff competition from established social media giants like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The success of a social network depends on user adoption and engagement, and it remains to be seen whether Bluesky’s unique features and potential for data portability will be enough to attract and retain users. However, with the backing of Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter and has a deep understanding of the industry, Bluesky has the potential to disrupt the social media landscape and provide users with an alternative platform for communication and content sharing.
