Bluesky Backlash: Why the Criticism Misses the Point

Bluesky's Network Potential is Underexplained

Bluesky is currently overlooking a crucial opportunity to educate the public about the broader scope of its network, which extends far beyond the confines of the Bluesky social application itself.

Recent weeks have seen a surge in discussions and articles questioning Bluesky’s growth trajectory. Concerns have been raised regarding a potential left-leaning bias within the network, and whether its user base exhibits sufficient levity.

Investor Concerns and Platform Dynamics

Mark Cuban, a prominent investor who financially supported Skylight – a video application leveraging Bluesky’s foundational protocol, AT Proto – recently voiced his concerns. He noted an increase in hostile interactions on the platform.

Cuban stated that engagement has shifted from constructive dialogue to polarized exchanges, characterized by accusations and negativity. He believes this trend is prompting users to return to X.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, and Linda Yaccarino, its CEO, have actively responded to this situation. Musk characterized Bluesky as a group of overly critical moderators, while Yaccarino positioned X as the genuine global public forum.

The Inevitable Debate

The emergence of this debate was predictable.

Without a concerted effort to highlight the diverse ecosystem of applications built upon the open protocol pioneered by the Bluesky team, it was inevitable that the Bluesky brand would be perceived primarily as a liberal alternative to X.

However, this perception doesn't fully represent the company’s vision. It could hinder future expansion if left unaddressed.

Initial User Base and Rapid Growth

It’s accurate that a significant portion of Bluesky’s early adopters were individuals who left X due to dissatisfaction with its new ownership and the subsequent shift towards right-wing perspectives.

Following the U.S. elections in November, Bluesky experienced a substantial increase in user adoption as people migrated from X, particularly those aligned with Trump’s supporters. The platform rapidly grew from over 9 million users in September to almost 15 million by mid-November, and then to 20 million shortly after.

This growth momentum continued in the following months, with high-profile Democrats like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton joining the app. Currently, Bluesky boasts over 36.5 million registered users, according to publicly available data.

The Risk of Echo Chambers

Consequently, the conversations surrounding news and politics on Bluesky have significantly influenced the network’s overall tone, as these discussions are dominated by the initial wave of users.

This dynamic presents a challenge for any social network, as partisan platforms on both sides of the political spectrum – such as Telepath and Parler – have failed to effectively compete with X.

Ultimately, the success of Bluesky hinges on demonstrating the versatility of AT Proto and fostering a broader, more inclusive application landscape.

Bluesky: Beyond the Application Itself

A crucial aspect often overlooked in current discussions is that the Bluesky social application represents merely a single illustration of the potential inherent within the broader AT Proto ecosystem. Should the prevailing discourse on Bluesky not align with your preferences, alternative applications are available, default feeds can be modified, or even entirely new social platforms can be constructed utilizing this underlying technology.

Currently, developers are leveraging the protocol powering Bluesky to create tailored social experiences for distinct communities – an example being Blacksky, designed to serve the Black online community, and Gander Social, catering to social media users within Canada.

Furthermore, feed builders such as Graze and those integrated within Surf empower users to curate personalized feeds, concentrating on content of specific interest – for instance, video games or baseball – while filtering out topics like politics.

Bluesky, along with other third-party clients, incorporates functionalities enabling users to select their preferred default feed and subscribe to additional feeds covering a diverse range of subjects. A dedicated feed focusing on a favored television program or animal, for example, can be readily followed.

Essentially, Bluesky is intended to be shaped by its users, with content accessible in the format most suitable to individual preferences.

Beyond Bluesky itself, the wider network of applications built upon the AT Protocol encompasses photo and video sharing platforms, livestreaming utilities, communication tools, blogging applications, music apps, and even movie and television recommendation services.

Additional tools facilitate the integration of feeds from Bluesky with other social networks.

Openvibe, for instance, allows for the aggregation of feeds from platforms like Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Nostr. Applications like Surf and Tapestry provide methods for monitoring posts on open social platforms, as well as content published via other open protocols like RSS, enabling the inclusion of material from blogs, news websites, YouTube, and podcasts.

While the Bluesky team may not be directly responsible for developing these alternative social experiences and tools, emphasizing and promoting the existence of this interconnected social network ultimately strengthens the Bluesky brand.

This demonstrates that Bluesky is not simply a replacement for Twitter/X, but rather one application within a larger social ecosystem founded on open technology – a scope exceeding the mere creation of another X competitor.