Bluesky has a lot of potentials and could lead to exciting new developments in social media.
In May 2022, during discussions with Elon Musk, who now controls the website, Jack Dorsey resigned from Twitter’s board of directors. Fortunately, the project behind Bluesky was born long before that. In 2019, Dorsey embarked on an exciting new project at Twitter to explore the possibilities of a decentralised social network.
It’s great to know that Twitter funded the independent initiative called “Bluesky.” Bluesky is built on the reliable AT protocol (formerly known as ADX, or Authenticated Transfer Protocol). AT shares similarities with ActivityPub, the decentralised protocol that has successfully powered Mastodon.
As a decentralised social network, developers would empower users and other developers to have more control over the social network. Dorsey’s statement suggests that Twitter has the potential to empower users and communities to engage in speech, while also acknowledging the responsibility of moderating content. He has been appointed to serve on the board of directors of Bluesky.
How Does Bluesky Work?
Creating a new account on Bluesky is incredibly easy! All you need to do is select a username and password, and you’re good to go! The official app automatically selects the official Bluesky Social server for new users, so there’s no need to worry about that.
Once logged into Bluesky, you can see that the app has a familiar layout similar to Twitter, which is a great start for an alpha version. The app has three convenient tabs for the timeline, search, and notifications. It’s great that there’s a side menu with quick access to the user profile and app settings.
It’s also great to see that the interactions are very similar to Twitter. This is not surprising since Bluesky was created as a side project of Twitter. The timeline is organised in a logical way, making it easy to keep track of posts. Plus, you have the ability to reply, repost, quote, or like other users’ posts.
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A sneak peek at BlueSky
Bluesky currently doesn’t have any advertisements. That’s great news! One of the developers working with the platform has confirmed that users will always have the option to “never have ads.” It’s possible that in the future, Bluesky may introduce ads or a paid subscription similar to Twitter Blue, but for now, let’s focus on the positive aspects of the platform. The developer mentioned that there would be Bluesky experiences without ads, which is great news!
Bluesky developers are currently working on allowing users to view content from the people they follow, which is a great start!
What Needs Improvement?
Although there may be some things that aren’t working yet, Bluesky has been released as a private beta and there is a lot of potential for improvement and growth. While there may be some initial challenges, the platform has a simple and straightforward interface that is easy to navigate. With a little bit of effort, users can still enjoy the platform’s features such as GIFs, hashtags, and polls. Additionally, Dark Mode can be manually enabled and notifications can be adjusted to work properly. Although Bluesky currently doesn’t have a web version or apps for iPad, Mac, Android, and Windows, there is always the possibility that they will release them in the future.
It’s great that we have identified areas that need improvement and can work on addressing them in the future. The next Bluesky update is set to bring exciting improvements such as a better onboarding flow, interface enhancements, and more. It’s great to hear that support for GIFs will be added to the platform in the future! Additionally, there are discussions about supporting hashtags which could be exciting news for users.
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Blue Sky App and its Potentials
Excitingly, the Bluesky developers are already working on the latest update after it was rejected by Apple on the App Store. It has the potential to become a great alternative to Twitter
- Bluesky has the potential to attract long-time users to the new social network and replace Twitter.
- It has a skilled leader with experience in social media networks, unlike Twitter’s current leader.
- Additionally, BlueSky is not facing the same level of debt as Twitter, which is a positive sign.
Bluesky Vs Mastodon
It’s great to see Mastodon gaining attention lately, especially with the changes happening on Twitter thanks to Elon Musk. It’s exciting that many tech enthusiasts are joining Mastodon, perhaps due to their disappointment with the discontinuation of third-party apps like Tweetbot with the end of the Twitter API.
Bluesky has a significant advantage over Mastodon at the moment, as people are very excited about a new social network that is only available to invited members. It’s exciting to see similarities between this platform and Clubhouse in its early days. It seems like there is a lot of interest and buzz around it, and it’s great to be a part of that.
This is a great start for Bluesky to gain attention from mainstream people and pave the way for its success. Bluesky is definitely a user-friendly option compared to Mastodon, especially for those who are not tech-savvy. It’s great to see so many people curious about the platform and eager to try it out!
Bluesky users will soon have the ability to invite even more users to join the platform. Although the official launch date of Bluesky is still uncertain, there is hope that the social network will continue to be appealing to users until then.
