X-rival Bluesky, endorsed by Jack Dorsey, opens to public
Bluesky, a micro-blogging platform backed by X's co-founder Jack Dorsey, is now open to the public after being invite-only for nearly a year. This decentralized platform, which started as an X project, aims to rival Elon Musk's X and other social media platforms like Threads and Mastodon. Bluesky CEO Jay Graber stated, "What decentralization gets you is the ability to try multiple things in parallel, and so you're not bottlenecking change on one organization."
Decentralized infrastructure and open source code
At the heart of Bluesky is the AT Protocol, a decentralized infrastructure for social networking. Its open-source code lets developers build their own code atop the AT Protocol, allowing them to create custom algorithms or entirely new social platforms. Graber explained that this approach gives users more control over their social media experience, unlike centralized platforms where users have limited options to undo or improve unwanted app updates.
User experience and open federation
Bluesky sets itself apart from Mastodon by focusing on an easy-to-use user experience. Mastodon has faced criticism for its technical jargon and confusing onboarding procedure. Bluesky plans to launch an experimental iteration of open federation later this month, enabling developers to create separate servers similar to Mastodon's instances. Users can then pick their preferred server and switch between servers without losing their posts, followers, or following lists.
Customizable content moderation services
Bluesky will permit individual users as well as organizations, to develop their own content moderation services that others can subscribe to. For instance, a fact-checking organization can label posts as "partially false" or "misleading," and users who trust the organization can subscribe to see these labels on posts. Addressing concerns about harmful content, Graber said that in extreme cases like child sexual abuse material, the team behind the AT Protocol would step in to remove the offending material entirely.
