Bluesky CEO Jay Graber's SXSW Zuckerberg T-Shirt Jab

A Subtle Challenge at SXSW 2025

During her keynote address at SXSW 2025, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber appeared on stage wearing a simple black T-shirt and with her hair neatly styled in a bun. Initially, this presentation might have been interpreted as a conventional approach often adopted by women in tech leadership roles – minimizing outward displays of femininity to gain professional credibility.

However, the reality behind this choice is far more nuanced. The seemingly ordinary black T-shirt served as a deliberate, though understated, commentary directed at Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO whose leadership style embodies many of the principles that Bluesky actively seeks to counter as an open source social network.

Zuckerberg's Imperial Allusions

The Meta founder and CEO has openly drawn parallels between himself and Julius Caesar, the renowned Roman emperor. He previously showcased a shirt emblazoned with the Latin phrase “Aut Zuck aut nihil,” a modification of the historical declaration “Aut Caesar aut nihil,” meaning “Either Caesar or nothing.”

Graber’s T-shirt, intentionally mirroring the style of Zuckerberg’s previous attire, bore the inscription “Mundus sine caesaribus.” This translates to “a world without Caesars.”

Bluesky's Decentralized Approach

The design of Bluesky directly reflects the message conveyed by Graber’s attire. As a decentralized social network constructed on an open source foundation, Bluesky distinguishes itself from established platforms like Facebook by providing users with transparent insight into the platform’s development process.

Graber clarified at SXSW, “Should a billionaire acquire Bluesky, or assume control, or if I were to implement changes that are widely unpopular, users retain the ability to create a fork and migrate to an alternative application.” She further explained that existing applications already offer different perspectives on the network, and new ones can be readily developed.

“This inherent openness ensures the perpetual availability of alternative options,” she added.

Meta's Actions and Bluesky's Gains

Meta’s decisions to modify user experiences have resulted in user dissatisfaction, and Bluesky has directly benefited from this trend. Following Meta’s introduction of contentious updates – including the utilization of AI training on publicly available user data and the reduction of third-party fact-checking initiatives – Bluesky experienced significant increases in user registration.

Despite this growth, Bluesky still faces a considerable challenge in surpassing the scale of Meta’s operations. While Graber’s platform is approaching 33 million users, Meta boasts 3.35 billion daily active users across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook.

This represents approximately 40% of the global population for Meta.

A Long-Term Vision

However, for a relatively new social network, Bluesky has already established a notable cultural presence, suggesting its longevity. The rise and fall of empires, like Rome, are not instantaneous processes.

Bluesky’s commitment to open source principles and user empowerment positions it as a compelling alternative in the social media landscape.