Bluesky, a Twitter-like social network that was once invitation-only, is now open for anyone to create an account.
Since it was launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey about a year ago, the app has been exclusive to those with an invitation code. Prospective users had to secure a spot on the waitlist or get a code from an existing user to join the beta version of the network.
The period allowed developers to build out moderation tools and other features, Bluesky said. During that time, it gained over 3 million users.
While it resembles Twitter, now called X, Bluesky claims it's different because it's open-source, meaning there is no centralized control or “black box algorithm.”
By default, the app displays posts by accounts you follow in a linear timeline, but you can switch to algorithm-driven timelines created by other users.
Like other social media networks, Bluesky has moderation settings in place to remove content that doesn’t fit its community guidelines, but, in the coming weeks, it plans to roll out more features that will allow users to customize what content they want hidden from their feeds.
One of those features is a unique function that will allow third-party organizations to label posts and users who trust those organizations can essentially subscribe to their labels, Bluesky explained.
“We’re calling the location-independent moderation infrastructure “community labeling” because you can opt-in to an online community’s moderation system that's not necessarily tied to the server you're on,” said Bluesky.
The company also claims Bluesky will be “the last social account you’ll ever have to create” because it will eventually allow you to transfer your information and network of friends to other apps. But this particular feature is still being worked out, it said.
“We want modern social media and public conversation online to work more like the early days of the web when anyone could put up a blog or use RSS to subscribe to several blogs,” Bluesky said on its website. “We believe this will unlock a new era of experimentation and innovation in social media.”
Dorsey began working on Bluesky while he was CEO of Twitter in 2019. Twitter paid Bluesky to build an open social protocol for public conversation that it could someday become a client of, according to Bluesky.
Dorsey stepped down from his role as the chief executive officer of Twitter in 2021, stating the company was ready to move on from its founders.
Twitter chose to sever its service agreement with Bluesky around the same time Elon Musk purchased the companyin 2022. Musk renamed Twitter to X in July 2023.
Until Bluesky's public launch, the only direct competitor to X was Threads, launched by Meta ahead of schedule before Twitter's name change.
Threads netted 100 million users in just five days, but it has since fizzled out, struggling to find a way to retain its users.
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