Bluesky Challenging Twitter: Is Jack Dorsey’s Platform The Biggest Threat To Elon Musk’s Network?

As Elon Musk continues to experiment with Twitter, Bluesky is fast emerging as a preferred alternative to the micro-blogging network. Although a nascent and fledgling social media platform, Bluesky has taken a wildly different approach to content creation, sharing, and user growth.

Bluesky, once a pet project of Twitter's co-founder Jack Dorsey, is now available for Apple iOS iPhones and Google Android smartphones. Ever since the social media platform launched in March, Bluesky has been gaining traction, which is primarily fueled by those abandoning or avoiding Twitter.

What Is Bluesky?

In its simplest form, which is perceived and used by the end users, Bluesky is a micro-blogging network, similar to Twitter. However, there are several tweaks that help differentiate the platform and alleviate the "social media experience".

Users can post short messages of up to 300 characters. There are two feeds to choose from. The Algorithmic feed is based on "What's hot" or "What's trending". The Chronological feed comprises updates from the people the user follows.

One cannot send direct messages to anyone or upload videos, yet. The social media platform recently allowed users to block people. However, the block list is public.

Bluesky Is Rapidly Gaining Traction

Currently, Bluesky is accessible only through an invite process. In other words, no one can just sign up with an email or phone number. However, despite the restrictive approach to user growth, Bluesky has been growing well, with occasional jumps in user base.

Bluesky witnessed its biggest single-day jump in new users on April 27, up 2X from the day before, announced the company. Bluesky isn't disclosing any specific numbers, but its CEO Jay Graber reportedly said that over 40,000 people have received access to the service as of April 28, doubling in nearly a fortnight.

Despite the invitation-only approach, Bluesky has been attracting users. Its growing user base consists of several celebrities, politicians, and other influential users, primarily because they aren't happy with Twitter.

Is Bluesky Threatening Twitter?

There's no doubt that Bluesky is the latest contender to emerge as a challenger to Twitter. It has gained a healthy momentum and created hype among social media users.

Bluesky's current success will have to be maintained and user growth metrics will have to be sustained if it wishes to ever challenge Twitter. Currently, Twitter has close to 400 million monthly active users. Simply put, Bluesky still has a long way to go before it can qualify as Twitter's rival.

Nonetheless, Bluesky operates on a very different level than most social media platforms. Bluesky relies on a protocol known as the Authenticated Transfer Protocol, or "AT Protocol", which lets developers create a federated and decentralized social network.

Simply put, Bluesky has a decentralized system. It is expected to give users more control over their social media experience. Crucial aspects such as how the user data is stored and used and what content is served to them won't be governed by corporate policies and their opaque algorithms, indicated Dorsey.

Users can create or join a server that caters to a specific interest or a community with its own moderation rules. Needless to mention, this isn't like the 'centralized' social media firms such as Twitter and Facebook, where the company makes the product and enforces policy decisions.

Jack Dorsey has always claimed that users have no control over their experience on popular social media platforms. He has promoted the idea that users should own their data and their relationships. There should be transparent algorithms and algorithmic choices. Bluesky promises more accountability and user control over how the social platform is moderated.

It is not immediately clear if Bluesky will reflect all of Dorsey's views and opinions about protecting free speech under any and all circumstances. Moreover, despite numerous alternatives, Twitter's usage has steadily increased even after Elon Musk acquired the platform. Hence, it would be wise to wait before declaring Bluesky a worthy alternative to Twitter.