Bluesky Social: What the social media platform offers

Bluesky Social is a social network that resembles X (formerly Twitter) and is therefore traded as an up-and-coming alternative

Bluesky Social: Twitter clone with invitation

The social network Bluesky Social has been around since 2021, but it is not until 2023 that the platform experiences a real hype and cracks the mark of one million users.

• Bluesky Social or Bluesky for short is available as an app and browser version. The logo – white clouds against a blue sky – is reminiscent of the former Twitter icon in terms of colour.

• And also in terms of structure, Bluesky is supposed to be strongly based on the short message service. The focus is on texts, i.e. short postings that may contain a maximum of 256 characters and are shared online. But photos can also be posted on Bluesky.

• As with X, each user has their own profile with a picture, a short description and a handle. Likes, comments and shares of posts are possible. What is missing so far are hashtags that users can use to filter posts. Direct messages are also not yet available.

• Unlike Elon Musk’s platform, Bluesky emphasises content moderation to curb illegal and discriminatory content.

• The highlight of the matter: So far you can only use Bluesky if you receive an invitation from other users. This limited access is fuelling interest in the internet world: Access codes have already been offered on Ebay.

Jack Dorsey is the founder of Bluesky

The creators of Bluesky are no strangers. Originally, the platform was even integrated into Twitter, but since 2022 it has been operating completely independently.

• Jack Dorsey already invented Twitter, with Bluesky now follows his next move in the social media world. Although the network is still in beta, attention for the X alternative is growing after Musk kept hitting the headlines with his Twitter revolution.

• Together with Jay Graber, a software developer, Dorsey has launched Bluesky. Graber serves as CEO, Dorsey sits on the board of directors.

• Both rely on a decentralised approach. This means that users register via many small servers and do not have to submit to a centrally controlled algorithm. Even the source code of the platform can be viewed and changed.