An anonymous reader cites a TechCrunch report. Bluesky is now publicly available after nearly a year as an invite-only app. Bluesky, which is backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, is one of the most promising microblogging platforms that could replace Elon Musk's HeX. Before its public launch, the platform had around 3 million sign-ups. Now that anyone can participate, this young platform faces challenges. How can it meaningfully compete with Threads' 130 million monthly active users, or even his Mastodon's 1.8 million?
Bluesky looks and functions like Twitter at first glance, but what's under the hood sets this platform apart. The company began as a project within Twitter that aimed to build a decentralized infrastructure called the AT protocol for social networking. As a decentralized platform, Bluesky's code is completely open source, giving outsiders transparency into what is being built and how. Developers can also write their own code on top of the AT protocol, allowing them to create everything from custom algorithms to entirely new social platforms.
“What decentralization gives us is the ability to try multiple things in parallel, so changes in one organization are no longer the bottleneck,” Bluesky CEO Jay Graber told TechCrunch. . “The way we built Bluesky allows virtually anyone to make changes to the product.” This setting gives users more control and control over their social media experience. For example, on centralized platforms like Instagram, users are pushing back against algorithm changes they don't like, but there's not much they can do to reverse or improve unwanted app updates.
