Social media is essential to companies and productions today. These platforms allow for business to release updates, make public announcements, and to hold onto to relevance. Nowadays, a company must have a social media presence to hold audiences and to remain relevant within the public and social circle. Social media is seeing an increase in users year after year, and now with over 50% of US adults being active on social media, social media is destined to change. With so many users, and so many new users, media platforms are fighting to stay relevant and accommodate for new users. In this flow of new updates and users, Bluesky has taken a huge step into the world of social media apps.
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is the social media platform set to be the replacement to X, (formally Twitter). From its own site, the platform describes itself as being:
“A social app that is designed to not be controlled by a single company.”
To support the platform’s vision, Bluesky has put in place what they are calling AT Protocol, which is, as the social media platform explains:
“A protocol for public conversation and an open-source framework for building social apps, meaning people have transparency into how it is built and what is being developed.”
Bluesky
At its core, Bluesky is a social media platform built upon the same foundation as Twitter. Made as a way for accounts to create 300-character word limit posts, much of Bluesky’s design was done to represent “the early days of the web.” Bluesky seeks to create space on the internet, playing with the concept of how social media was originally presented before companies got involved in purchasing and updating apps.
What caused the shift to Bluesky?
One of the reasons for the shift can be traced all the way back to 2022, when Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk purchased Twitter and subsequently renamed the platform X. Over the past couple of years, the platform has seen a change. The largest change: allowing users to buy blue check marks. What once was used to signify someone’s official account — typically celebrities — the bright blue mark was now priced at $8.
The second reason was the new X regulation dealing with blocking and content moderation. The ability to block an account entirely (which currently only worked as a method to prevent an account from interacting with content) has now been watered down to blocking accounts but still being able to view their content. Further, moderators are no longer combing through the posts on Twitter. This change has led to an increase in racism, misogyny, and disinformation on the social media platform. It is also theorized that the change from Twitter was encouraged by the outcome of this year’s presidential election. After Elon Musk made his support for Donald Trump explicit by joining him on stage at rallies, Bluesky saw an influx of 1 million users.
Why are publishers moving to Bluesky?
As the movement to Bluesky is multifaceted, so is its influx of publishers. Many publishers and official accounts decided to leave X because of the changes that Musk set into place. Yet publishers in particular shifting to Bluesky is not a surprise.
Not only does Bluesky boast of being a platform for artists, but the platform’s competitor, Twitter, also received criticism from writers this year. An open letter stating that Twitter is ‘no longer a useful tool’ for journalism (and writers as a whole) was shared online and signed by a number of journalists. The greatest criticism is that the platform’s new algorithm has created a near impossible path for engagement.
Bluesky also boasts that the platform has no algorithm — or rather, it has many that users can curate, as one user by the name of Dan explains away misconceptions many of those tuning in to the conversation may have. This means that the mainstream content for users isn’t suggested materials but rather actual accounts and tags that users follow. On other platforms, like Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram, algorithms have seen a huge shift into suggested content rather than followed content. With this in mind, accounts are joining to receive better engagement from their targeted audiences. Additionally, Bluesky offers a group follow option where users can follow a collection of accounts depending on their interests.
What does it all mean?
Though Bluesky has seen an increasing number of users and accounts built on the platform, the number still cowers in comparison to the over 200 million users on its counterparts: Twitter and Threads. The app provides a huge step away from the current workings of social media apps, which puts the platform in a very unique position. With the increase in controversy surrounding Twitter, however, Bluesky creates an even more interesting outlet for users that still seek a similar format.
Bluesky is the first platform in a while that feels as though it is making a new impression on the world of social media. It’s certainly made itself an object of interest and is definitely an app to keep an eye on.
If you’re interested in learning more about social media and its development, read this article on the evolution of the book community online!
Want more books about technology and different futuristic worlds? Check out Bookstr’s Dystopian Worlds, Technology, and the Universe in Science Fiction.
