BlueSky explained: Why biggest X's competitor trending
What BlueSky offers and why it can become an alternative to X (photo: Getty Images)
BlueSky is a new social network that is actively attracting users' attention and sparking heated discussions on the Internet. Developed with a focus on decentralization and freedom, it is positioning itself as a major competitor to X.
RBC-Ukraine tells about why BlueSky is becoming popular, and what distinguishes it from its competitors, with reference to the technology news site TechCrunch.
Bluesky
Bluesky is a decentralized application conceived by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and developed in parallel with Twitter. The social network has a Twitter-like interface with algorithmic content selection, federated design, and community-driven moderation.
Bluesky uses the open-source AT Protocol developed internally, which means that people outside the company can see how it is built and what is being developed.
Dorsey introduced the Bluesky project back in 2019 when he was still the CEO of Twitter. At the time, he said that Twitter would fund a small, independent team of five architects, engineers, and open-source designers to create a decentralized standard for social media, with the initial goal of Twitter adopting the standard itself. But that was before Elon Musk bought the platform, so Bluesky is completely separate from Twitter.
As of May 2024, Dorsey is no longer on Bluesky's board of directors. The app is now an independent non-profit organization led by CEO Jay Graeber.
How to use Bluesky?
Registration and profile
When signing up, users can create a nickname that will appear as @username.bsky.social, as well as a more prominent display name that appears in bold. If you have your domain name, you can use it as your nickname.
Interface and main features
The application itself is much like the basic version of Twitter. You can click the “+” button to create a message of up to 256 characters, which can also include photos. Messages can be replied to, reposted, and liked, and through the three-point menu can be shared with other apps via the iOS sharing menu or copied as text.
You can search for and follow other users and then see their updates in your Home timeline. Previously, the Bluesky app displayed popular posts in the What's Hot feed. Now, this feed has been replaced by an algorithmic and personalized “Browse” feed that shows not only trending content.
For new users, Bluesky introduced the Starter Pack feature, which creates a curated list of people and personalized subscription feeds to find interesting content right away.
User profiles contain the same features you expect: an avatar, background, bio, statistics, and number of subscriptions. Just like on Twitter, profile feeds are divided into two sections: posts and replies.
In the lower center of the app's navigation bar, there is also an “Overview” tab that offers additional recommendations on “who to follow” and a constantly updated feed of the latest Bluesky updates.
The app looks a lot like a basic version of Twitter (photo: TechCrunch)
Who uses Bluesky?
As of early July 2023, Bluesky has exceeded one million downloads on iOS and Android. News organizations such as Bloomberg, The Washington Post, and others are represented here. Since August 2024, Bluesky also allowed heads of state to register and join the platform for the first time.
Does Bluesky work the same way as X?
In many ways, yes. Until recently, Bluesky did not have personal messages like X, but now this feature has been implemented. However, Bluesky's private messaging is currently limited to one-way correspondence, with no group chats available. Bluesky has also expressed interest in implementing something similar to X's Community Notes feature.
In addition, X does not use a decentralized protocol such as ActivityPub or AT. In October 2024, Elon Musk announced that the blocking feature in X would work differently than before. The new feature allows users you have blocked to view your messages and your profile but does not allow them to interact with your messages.
Some users believe that this update is a security risk, which has led to an influx of new users to Bluesky because its blocking feature is more traditional.
Is Bluesky safe?
In October 2023, Bluesky added email verification as part of a broader effort to improve account security and online authentication. This is an important innovation to increase Bluesky's competitiveness against larger networks such as X, which have stricter security measures.
In December 2023, Bluesky allowed users to opt out of a change that would have made their messages available to the public, following a negative user response.
Can I customize Bluesky?
Yes. In May 2023, Bluesky released custom algorithms called custom feeds. They allow users to subscribe to many different algorithms that show different types of posts that the user might want to see.
You can pin custom feeds that will appear at the top of your timeline as different tabs. Pinned feeds are located in the My Feeds menu on the sidebar of the app. In March 2024, the company announced the AT Protocol Grants program, which will provide small grants to developers to spur growth and customization.
One of the recipients, SkyFeed, is a tool that allows any user to create their feeds using a graphical interface.
Is Bluesky available on iOS and Android?
Yes. Bluesky became available to Android users on April 20 and was initially launched for iOS users in late February. Users can access Bluesky through the web version.
How does Bluesky combat disinformation?
After an update in October 2023, the app will now warn users about misleading links by flagging them. If the links shared by users in their messages do not match their text, the app will offer the user a warning that the link may not lead to where they want to go.
How Bluesky fights misinformation (photo: TechCrunch)
