Bluesky is the latest social media app to make headlines across the world. Many people are moving away from bigger platforms and want something different. Unlike X and Facebook, Bluesky is a decentralized platform. The app promises more control for users and less influence from big companies. For many users, it feels like a fresh start.
So, what exactly is Bluesky?
Bluesky started as an experiment at Twitter back in 2019. Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, wanted to explore decentralization. Put simply, he wanted a way to give users more control, reduce corporate influence, and address issues such as algorithmic bias and inefficient moderation.
By 2021, this side project of Dorsey became its own company: Bluesky. It was not part of Twitter, which let developers work on it without limitations. At the center of it all is the AT Protocol which lets users move their accounts and data across platforms.
The app originally launched in 2023 as an invite-only beta. It wasn’t until earlier this year that it became open to the public. And it’s gained traction. As of November 2024, Bluesky has over 18 million users. But, what’s interesting is that a lot of this growth came after the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Many X users felt uneasy about the platform and its owner, Elon Musk, who supported President-elect Donald Trump. Some left X entirely. So where did these users go? For many of them, Bluesky.
Now X is still much bigger, with over 300 million users. However, Bluesky’s user base is growing fast.
The challenges ahead
It isn’t perfect, though. The company only has 20 employees, making it difficult to keep up with the surge in usage. There have been crashes and complaints about moderation.
Jay Graber, Bluesky’s CEO, has been open about the challenges, calling them “growing pains”.
And while growth is great, it brings problems too. Scaling up means building better infrastructure and hiring more people. Right now, Bluesky is small. If it wants to accommodate a larger user base, then it needs to begin working on building a broader team that can handle all the problems that come with being a large social media platform.
There’s also a culture shift happening. Early users seem enthused about Bluesky for its tight-knit feeling. However, as with most social media platforms, as new people flood in, the community may see a change too. This has some early users worried it will make the platform lose the appeal that brought them to it in the first place — whether that actually happens or not is uncertain.
What is certain is that Bluesky is hitting its stride at a time when people are looking for something new. Is this just a passing trend or something bigger? Time will tell, but for the moment, things are looking up for Bluesky and the potential is huge if it plays its cards right.