What is Bluesky, the ‘New Alternative’ to Twitter? Explained

With BlueSky, Jack Dorsey’s new social media site, he’s taking another shot at a Twitter-like service. The service is growing in popularity among Twitter power users, attracting important figures such as US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Bluesky, which is similar to the Bluebird platform, is the latest in a long line of apps to attract Twitter’s attention following Elon Musk’s ‘disastrous’ acquisition of the firm.

What is BlueSky?

It is a text-centric social media service launched in February for select users. Users can post short messages and images of up to 300 characters. According to a Reuters report, there is no support for video and direct messages or DMs as of now.

BlueSky runs on a decentralized framework similar to the social network Mastodon. It allows users to create independent social media experiences and users can join a specific “server” that has its own rules, interests, and unique set of participants.

When did it launch?

The idea for Bluesky was conceived within Twitter in 2019, but it formed its own public benefit corporation in 2022, with the backing of former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter in 2006 and is stepping down as CEO in 2021, now serves on BlueSky’s board of directors. In a lengthy discussion in April 2022, the platform emphasized its relationship with Twitter, noting that Jay Graber, a former Twitter software engineer, had also been recruited to help launch the new platform. nbc news,

The BlueSky app is similar to Twitter in many ways, but the main difference is that it is organized around a decentralized framework. This means that user data can be stored on independent servers rather than those owned by the firm, and in future, users will be allowed to create their own servers to use with communities of their choice, the report said. Is.

“People have been saying for years that it would be great if users could own their data and relationships; If only we could have transparent algorithms and algorithmic choices; If only there could be more accountability and user control over how social platforms are moderated,” Graber wrote in a blog post last month.

Can Bluesky Take On Twitter?

On a technical level, Bluesky differs from larger social networking programs such as Twitter. A report in Vox argues that the main difference people notice is that those who use it are far less mean and have more fun.

A user known as “M” said, “There’s something refreshing about scrolling through feed and seeing posts from accounts you follow that are funny instead of accounts you don’t follow.” and think you don’t deserve rights.” Report.

This is the opposite of what some people are claiming to be experiencing on Twitter these days. In keeping with Musk’s “free speech despotism” attitude, Twitter has controversially reinstated previously suspended neo-Nazis and other extremist individuals, and recently pushed back some hate speech restrictions for trans users. Have given.

Musk has said he is reducing exposure to hate tweets and that hate speech has decreased since his appointment, although other studies have found an increase in racial and homophobic slurs on the platform following Musk’s appointment, reports stated in.

However, some argue that BlueSky is not intended to compete with Twitter, but to consolidate with it. A reports Inc.’s Kelly Nath says the two companies are a “strategic meeting” in terms of building a business that will stand the test of time, calling it an expansion strategy that leverages the social build Twitter has developed.

According to Nath, the future points to web 3 for decentralization and Twitter will need to consider decentralization adoption and how it will affect it.

Companies often diversify to increase market share and overall stability by generating new brands, brand extensions or sub-brands, many of which conflict with the parent brand or firm, the report explains.

Even though competing brands may seem strange to the average consumer, it allows businesses to strategically gain market share, expand overall and secure a position in the future, it adds.

With inputs from Reuters

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