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What Is Bluesky Social? A new Twitter challenger

The new, open source social network
Last Updated on August 7, 2023
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Users are tired of security and data privacy issues with famous social media platforms worldwide, forcing them to move towards alternative platforms. Bluesky Social will be another platform similar to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. It has some similar features to these, but also some notable differences which set it apart from the rest. The Bluesky team has created a decentralized social networking app that has certainly gotten people intrigued. Keep reading to find out what exactly Bluesky Social is, and what it’s bringing to the ever-growing market of social media platforms.

What is Bluesky Social?

Bluesky is a social network developed by former Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and other creators, including the current Bluesky CEO Jay Graber. It is invite-only at the moment – meaning you’ll need an invite code to get started on the Bluesky app. This is because the platform is still in a relative beta stage. It is a kind of Twitter alternative, with ‘skeets’ (tweets) and your own profile. However, it is open source, which means you can view and modify the blockchain and code for the app. It was created around a unique open-source framework called the AT Protocol. Eventually Bluesky will have multiple servers, so you can pick the one with the algorithm that suits you best. It is supposed to serve as a ‘protocol’ to other social media networks, according to former Twitter CEO Dorsey, to serve as a more socially responsible social platform. 

In this article, we will discuss what Bluesky is, how it works, and its future potential.

How Bluesky Social Works

Bluesky Social is an initiative to develop and launch a decentralized social media platform, like Mastodon. The app launched as a public beta version in February this year, but has existed in a smaller form since 2021. It is run by a small, independent team, and started off as an off-shoot of Twitter. Since then, it has become a real contender as a major Twitter alternative. 

It will help users because most social media platforms often face criticism from them over their data privacy issues and algorithms biases. Bluesky will aim to address and solve these issues in a better way. It will run off a decentralized system and allow users more power and control over their data privacy for safe communication.

Bluesky Social aims for a futuristic approach that sees internet-based platforms built on a more secure and common standard. Thus, it allows users to share their content and communicate over different platforms freely. This will hopefully incite a more democratic social media landscape through user empowerment. This has already attracted several journalists and celebrity users, including Chrissy Teigen. 

Moreover, it will promote transparency and accountability, with the help of interoperability. A decentralized social media platform or approach should also give users more secure data privacy and content-sharing choices as they would want.

How can I use Bluesky Social?

Currently, you can only access Bluesky Social if you have an invite code. These invite codes are rolled out to existing users every 2 weeks, so that Bluesky can monitor the social graph and let the platform grow organically. According to an FAQ page, the end of April saw over 50k users on the social media site. Bluesky is keeping protocol development at the heart of its platform, as opposed to popularity and getting lots of new users quickly. If you’re keen to start using Bluesky, you can read on about how you can join, access, and Bluesky invite codes here.

We’re still waiting on an official date for when Bluesky Social will come out of its beta stages and become fully available to the public. In the meantime, you can download the app on both iOS and Android, and sign up to the waitlist to be enrolled on the platform.

FAQs

Who Created Bluesky Social?

Bluesky Social involves a community of developers, technologists, and social media specialists working together to create a more secure and decentralized social media platform. It was launched in 2021 with key people such as Jack Dorsey and Jay Graber.

The app was originally launched as an off-shoot of Twitter. However, it became independent of the platform a while before Twitter, now re-branded as X, was taken over by Elon Musk. 

Gloria’s Thoughts

So, what is Bluesky social? We hope this article has cleared some things up for you.

Bluesky is an exciting initiative to create a more secure and decentralized social media platform. It is still under development, with different experts in a small independent team work to boost its features and optimize algorithmic choice. However, it may be better than Twitter or other similar social media platforms due to its capacity to address users’ data privacy and other online security issues. But again, time will decide how well it succeeds in achieving its goal.

Gloria is a tech and AI writer for PC Guide. She is interested in what new technology means for the future of digital and broadcast journalism.