Bluesky Social Media Platform

 

Bluesky may be the most talked about app on the internet right now, but the future of this new social media platform could hinge on one decision that isn’t technical. It’s whether it can strike the right balance between curbing hate speech and trolls, while also keeping its content interesting, and more captivating than your inner-circle group chat.

Currently, Bluesky has a small but select user base — many of them tech CEOs, well-known social media influencers, and famous politicians who are already active on the service. Some users are describing it as having a “friendly” or even “warm” atmosphere, while others say it feels more like an inner-circle group chat than a traditional social media site.

But will this positive vibe, which seems to have spread to more than just Bluesky’s core user base, last? As the company looks to scale up, the challenges of maintaining a friendly atmosphere while policing problematic behavior will become increasingly difficult. And the company is not the only social network that has faced this challenge in recent years.

After explosive growth, the social network Bluesky social media Mastodon slowed to a crawl as it struggled with decentralised moderation challenges and a community that was not always welcoming. With a much more simple interface, Bluesky hopes to avoid the same mistakes and find a sweet spot that can sustain mass adoption.

When you first open the Bluesky app, it feels very familiar — almost like Twitter in its early days. The color scheme, page layout with a main timeline flanked by two sidebars, and interaction models are very similar. You can post text or images, and can reply, repost, and quote other users. The main differences are that there is no direct messaging (Bluesky is just a server) and there’s no video, live or recorded.

For the time being, Bluesky is limiting its user base by handing control over who gets in to individual servers to server admins. Bluesky’s founder, Jay Graber, has also outlined plans for the platform to eventually allow for servers with different rules, which would create a more diverse and interesting environment — but this will take some time.

So far, most of the people I’ve encountered on Bluesky have been enthusiastic. A few have complained about some trolls and other negative content, but most seem to be enjoying the experience. And this is a major part of the reason why the app might have a chance to be successful.

If you’re on the waitlist for Bluesky, you can get an invite by requesting one from someone who already has it or signing up for the waitlist and sharing your code. As of this writing, the company says that it’s giving out about a code every other week, and will monitor your social graph to make sure the people you invite are trustworthy. If you do get in, the app is free to use. The only catch is that you can’t transfer your username and following list from Bluesky to another service until the end of June 2021.