Top 10 Things to Know About Bluesky

In November 2024, in the aftermath of the US presidential election, interest in Bluesky massively grew. Less than two weeks after the election, the platform added a further one million accounts, taking the overall figure to around 15 million, significantly up from the 13 million in October. As the user numbers rose, the Bluesky team had to rush to acquire more servers to keep up with demand. By November 20, the number of accounts increased further to 20 million. Five days later, it’d reached 22 million, seeing a 300% increase in users compared to before the election. One of the main reasons for the mass increase is Elon Musk’s control of X, which many feel has led to an expansion in misinformation.

Since Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and turned it into X, many users have been discouraged by its change. Gone is the iconic blue bird and instead replaced by bot accounts and an increase of hate. As such, several companies have decided to leave the platform. Following NPR in 2023, the UK news company The Guardian was one of the biggest to leave X in 2024. Other groups that have followed suit include German football clubs St Pauli and Werder Bremen[b] and even the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England. Several celebrities have also exited X in favor of Bluesky. Mark Hamill, Barbra Streisand, Matthew Lillard, and Ben Stiller are just some of the famous faces to depart.

When Bluesky announced its Beta, the only way for people to get an account on the platform was to receive an invite code. This gave the impression the site was a type of exclusive club, which some enjoyed while others probably didn’t. However, in February 2024, Bluesky announced the end of invite codes. Now, anyone can join and set up their account, just like any other social media site. Another early feature of Bluesky when it first became news was its long account handles ending with “bsky.social.” However, that is just a default, as accounts can change it, such as to a website domain. For example, NPR uses “@npr.org” as its handle.

In June 2024, X took the unusual step of hiding what posts accounts “liked.” It can still be seen on your own page, but you can’t look at what other users clicked the heart on. Over in Bluesky, there's far more transparency as a lot more is public, including likes. However, it requires another app to see that information for accounts other than your own. On top of this, people without an account on the platform or logged off can easily see the posts by those that do. However, this is a default option that can be turned off. Accounts on Bluesky can’t currently be set to “private,” either.

The Bluesky board is stacked with people who have a long history in tech and the internet. Jay Graber[c] is the platform's current and first-ever CEO. She made her name primarily in cryptocurrency and founded the events planning site Happening, Inc. The COO role is taken by Rose Wang, who was suggested for the role by Graber. Wang has worked in various tech roles and AI startups. Other members of the board include Jeremie Miller, a software developer who helped make the messaging service Jabber among other feats, and Mike Masnick, who founded the technology blog site Techdirt. However, no single person owns Bluesky, and the company has stated that no billionaire makes decisions for the company.

After raising millions of dollars in funding, Bluesky needs to find a way to make the social media platform financially successful. Some companies, like X, have opted to sell user data into generative AI to train it. However, Bluesky has stated they wouldn’t do that. They do use AI to help run the site but won’t feed your data into it. In 2024, during an interview with Wired, Graber stated that she wouldn’t let the quality of Bluesky degrade by mass use of advertisements. She added that the platform is selling custom domains to users to make cash. In 2024, Bluesky also toyed with the idea of subscription accounts that provide users with access to more features, such as higher-quality videos and profile customization.

In October 2024, X followed through with their long-term plan of changing the platform’s blocking feature. Now, if you block a user, they can still see what you post but won’t be able to interact. This change caused a backlash from users, leading 1.2 million to create Bluesky accounts in a couple of days. Over on the blue butterfly platform, blocking is similar to how most social media websites handle it. Accounts you block can’t see what you post, can’t interact, and their profiles will be hidden in searches. However, bear in mind that because of the way Bluesky works, who you’ve blocked is public, albeit hidden, the use of a third-party app can find this information.

Rather than letting AI and other computing shenanigans choose what you see on your social media feed, you’re in control at Bluesky with the AT Protocol[d]. You can set what algorithms your feed uses, allowing you to engage more with topics you’re interested in. For example, you can set the feed to show you Napoli pizza and not the abomination of Altoona-style pizza. In 2023, Bluesky announced they wouldn’t be using a “master algorithm,” typically used by most social media sites, and instead have a marketplace to choose from. If you want to use another user’s feed or share your own, you can download “starter packs” that have this feature as a part of it.

When Bluesky was first introduced, one of its key features was its decentralized nature. Essentially, this means that no single company has complete control over the platform, promoting transparency and collaborative improvements from others. The platform operates on a network of independent servers rather than a single, centralized one. This setup provides Bluesky the option to connect with other decentralized platforms, such as Mastodon. The decentralized trait is what facilitates features like custom feeds and customizable handles. However, it's not all good. The decentralized structure may require some technical knowledge to navigate fully, and content moderation can vary depending on the server.

Back when the platform was still known as Twitter, the site played a big role in Bluesky’s creation. The then-Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey led the creation of the project in 2019. Twitter paid Bluesky a service income. However, when Musk bought the blue bird, the agreement was terminated. After leaving Twitter, Dorsey joined Bluesky’s board of directors in 2022. However, by 2024, he had a massive change of heart as he resigned from the board and deleted his Bluesky account. In a shocking U-turn to his previous comments about Musk and X, Dorsey praised the former Twitter. In an interview with Pirate Wires, Dorsey stated his displeasure at Bluesky's centralized moderation plans, believing it was moving away from its decentralized roots.


If you could launch any social media site back into relevancy, which would you choose? MySpace? Bebo[e]? Friendster? Or something else? Let us know below!

[b]eff see san pao-lee https://youtu.be/HTwrCEN2L5w?si=Dte4tsAr0ZZlj4IA&t=117
vairder BRAY-min https://youtu.be/c9GPxdI6cPM?si=aGOpamyXFZN2pWEX&t=5
CLIFF-tin https://youtu.be/OyTXTurhOQE?si=ofIZrb0nXwrxUXBw&t=2
BRISS-tull https://youtu.be/OyTXTurhOQE?si=ZSVh7F-aoRGm6rRE&t=210
stry-sand (not "zand" she's very particular)
Matthew LILL-urd https://youtu.be/OO9DTpojzBw
[c]GRAY-bur https://youtu.be/Xa-EvA95Eqw?si=kbmOMdcSj2EcNKA2&t=78
wang rhymes with "bang" https://youtu.be/YwCpGaFG1f4?si=_xFxNKOMEgr0tBAY&t=202
Jeremie = Jeremy
MAZZ-nick https://youtu.be/D_fKMb_4cLA?si=szqWf3xqzYpE9jHr&t=23
[d]ay tee protocol https://youtu.be/O7XsrKznY40?si=2OJjpoXlTN6mhvEz&t=262
NAWPOH-lee https://www.dictionary.com/browse/Napoli
al-TOO-nuh https://www.dictionary.com/browse/altoona
[e]BEE-boh https://youtu.be/-RXsY5L_mvU?si=c154NrpMBmJMXMmp&t=281