Bluesky Finally Opens The Floodgates But Is It Too Late To Topple Twitter X?
While Bluesky, a decentralized microblogging platform launched by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, added over three million users with its coveted invite system that began a little over a year ago, many who had hoped to join have already developed a presence on other social media sites, such as Meta’s Threads. This leads some to wonder if Bluesky may have waited too long to open its doors to everyone.
The 40 person team at Bluesky announced on Tuesday that the invite process was ending. A blog post on the site read, “For the past year, we used invite codes to help us manage growth while we built features like moderation tooling, custom feeds, and more. Now, we’re ready for anyone to join.”
Many had hoped that Bluesky’s presence would be a viable option to X, formerly Twitter, after Elon Musk took over. The changes that Musk implemented since he bought X have infuriated some, with more than a few migrating to other social media sites like Threads. It is important to note that it seems few have completely abandoned X in favor of another app, since Musk's platform continues to see regular growth and engagement -- assuming Musk's recent disclosures are accurate.
As far as whether or not Musk is concerned about Bluesky, or any social media site, toppling Twitter, the billionaire emphatically tweeted earlier today, “If I had a dollar for every time the media reported that one of my companies was going to die, I would never need to raise money!”
Musk also quote tweeted a post by @cb_doge, whose handle on X is DogeDesigner, which shared an image showing “What Media Reports,” as opposed to “What Reality Is.” The tweet shows how some in the media have reported X/Twitter dying over the last year, and the “reality” that “X is the #1 app in the AppStore.”
What Bluesky is bringing to the social media table is a decentralized Authenticated Transport (AT) Protocol that allows users to opt-in to a microblogging experience that is free from oversight from the company itself. This allows users to create an account on Bluesky that can also be used in rival apps that use the same network. Another unique advantage of this type of system is that users can also create user-curated feeds that can be utilized to seek out other users or topics with customizable moderation tools.
One aspect of Bluesky that remains a bit of a mystery is how the site will be monetized. In an interview with The Verge, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber mentioned a couple of possibilities. Those include charging users for additional features (think of X Premium), as well as taking a commission on purchases like custom feeds that developers will be able to sell as digital goods.
What is certain is that the doors are now open for anyone to join Bluesky. Whether users will now completely abandon X for the blue alternative is yet to be seen. For those who are now on Bluesky, be sure to follow HotHardware.
