Ten million users in a few months is no joke. What is it? Bluesky? This is the question of the moment, given the rise of the new social network. Born from the ashes of Twitter (when it was still Twitter, I mean) and driven by a completely different vision of online communication, it is attracting a growing number of people fleeing from X.
The key to its results? A decentralized approach that promises greater freedom and transparency. But there is much more behind these impressive numbers. Let's see together what makes this platform so attractive to millions of users.
What is Bluesky? A (maybe) bluer sky on the horizon
While Elon Musk bought Twitter for turn it into X, someone else was preparing something else. And that someone is Jack Dorsey, the father of Twitter himself, who must have thought: “If I created Twitter once, I can do it again. Maybe better.”
But this time it's different. Bluesky isn't just another Twitter clone with a deodorant name. It does look a lot like one, though. It's like someone took everything that wasn't working in social media and threw it out the window.
Digital democracy is served
The platform uses the AT protocol, an open source framework developed internally that ensures transparency and allows external developers to see how the social network is built.
Let me put it in a metaphor: it’s like a restaurant letting you go into the kitchen, check out the ingredients, and suggest changes to the menu. In a world where social media giants guard their algorithms like they’re Coca-Cola’s secret recipe, that’s a good thing.
Bluesky, don't just call it a social network. So what is it?
Bluesky is more like a digital republic than a social network. There is no king here who ultimately decides what you see and what you don't (I'm looking at you, Elon).
Here you can choose how to display content thanks to “custom feeds”: basically a remote control for your feed. Do you want to see only tech news? Click. Only cats? Click. Only posts by people who love pineapple pizza? Click (seriously?). Post length is back to being “rationed” like in the old days: you have 256 characters to express yourself (yes, just like the bits of a computer, nerd inside).
The moderation you don't expect
Moderation on Bluesky aims to be (and it still isn’t, it must be said) an experiment in direct democracy. There are no mysterious algorithms that decide what is appropriate and what is not. Instead, the platform is developing tools that allow communities to self-regulate.
Each “neighborhood” of this social network will be able to decide its own rules. Don't like how things are run in one area? Move to another or create your own. Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky, calls it “federated moderation.” I call it “it reminds me Mastodon".
The dark side of the blue sky
It's not all roses and flowers, let's be clear. With 10 million users, Bluesky is still a baby compared to, say, the 175 million Threads. But maybe that's the beauty of it: it's like being in an exclusive club where everyone is there because they want something different. Obviously there is also Future Prossimo, currently more alone than the famous sodium particle (if you pass by there, look for us!).
And yes, there has been controversy over moderation of offensive content. But at least there is an open dialogue here about how to address these issues, rather than the usual top-down announcements.
Is the future really blue?
I like to think of Bluesky as a large-scale social experiment. Can a social network be truly democratic? Can transparency win over algorithmic manipulation? Can users responsibly manage their online experience?
Newspapers such as Bloomberg and Washington Post they believe it. People like Neil Gaiman also. And you? Are you ready to find out if the sky is really bluer on the other side?
What is Bluesky, a digital postscript
I spend my days developing creative for my clients and writing about the future and technology, and if you'll take my word for it, Bluesky is like those rare moments when you see something and think, “Maybe there's hope for the internet yet.” It's not perfect, but it's honest in its attempt to do something different.
There’s always a part of me that’s on guard, and thinks it could still be an anti-Musk “gatekeeper” attempt, but I try to see the glass half full. In an age where social networks seem increasingly designed to manipulate us, even an attempt deserves attention. So, what is Bluesky? Maybe it’s simply the social network we’ve been waiting for. Or the next failure. Or maybe it's just the beginning of something bigger. Either way, it's worth a look. A blue sky, after all, always makes you smile.
