SAN FRANCISCO: The buzz around Bluesky, a new social media platform being called Twitter 2.0, has been intense. Prominent Twitter users such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DD-N.Y., and model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen have joined. Thousands of others are begging for invitations to it.
Some Twitter users have been looking for an alternative social platform since Elon Musk bought the company last year. Bluesky’s users say the app – which was funded by a Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey – has come the closest to mimicking Twitter’s tone and feel.
Bluesky is a social network that offers many of the same core features that Twitter does. Users can post short text and photo updates, reply to each other and share other people’s posts. The app, which is still in development, became available for iOS devices in February and for Android devices in April.
Jay Graber, Bluesky’s chief executive, said in a blog post last month that it was no coincidence that the app looked like Twitter. But unlike Twitter, Bluesky plans to be a decentralized system, meaning people may eventually be able to build their own apps and communities within it. Graber said it was designed that way so that no individual could create rules for the entire Bluesky community.
Since Musk bought Twitter, he has changed the service by removing restrictions around online speech on the platform and changing its verification practices. Those have led to some user confusion, as well as to an increase in misinformation. As a result, Twitter users have tested out alternatives. Some have even migrated to Mastodon, another decentralized social media platform that has said it aims to be “a viable alternative to Twitter.” nyt
Some Twitter users have been looking for an alternative social platform since Elon Musk bought the company last year. Bluesky’s users say the app – which was funded by a Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey – has come the closest to mimicking Twitter’s tone and feel.
Bluesky is a social network that offers many of the same core features that Twitter does. Users can post short text and photo updates, reply to each other and share other people’s posts. The app, which is still in development, became available for iOS devices in February and for Android devices in April.
Jay Graber, Bluesky’s chief executive, said in a blog post last month that it was no coincidence that the app looked like Twitter. But unlike Twitter, Bluesky plans to be a decentralized system, meaning people may eventually be able to build their own apps and communities within it. Graber said it was designed that way so that no individual could create rules for the entire Bluesky community.
Since Musk bought Twitter, he has changed the service by removing restrictions around online speech on the platform and changing its verification practices. Those have led to some user confusion, as well as to an increase in misinformation. As a result, Twitter users have tested out alternatives. Some have even migrated to Mastodon, another decentralized social media platform that has said it aims to be “a viable alternative to Twitter.” nyt
