Topics: Twitter, Social Media, Technology, Elon Musk
The social media alternative founded by Twitter’s former CEO Jack Dorsey has been described as a ‘Musk-free’ Twitter ‘clone’.
The new platform, called Bluesky, is almost ready for general release and will be marketed as a Twitter competitor which Dorsey co-founded just before Musk bought Twitter in October.
Bluesky will serve as a ‘public benefit’ company to build an open-source, decentralized social protocol.
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Although it has been called a ‘shameless clone of Twitter’ by The Verge, which had early access to the platform that is still invite-only at the moment, there are some key differences.
Users’ feed is displayed chronologically of those you follow by default and lets users toggle between a ‘What’s Hot’ algorithmic feed.
There are still some important features that are missing from Bluesky, including the ability to export account data and a marketplace of feed algorithms for users to select from, but The Verge noted it’s still early days for the platform.
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber shed some light on where the app will sit among its competitors, including new social media platforms Nostr and Mastodon which are also offering Twitter alternatives.
Graber said Bluesky isn’t in competition with Mastodon and explained: “We’ve designed a protocol that has three big things we think are missing from the Mastodon ecosystem: account portability, global discoverability, [and] composable, customizable curation and moderation.”
The Bluesky CEO also addressed concerns that Musk will ban links on Twitter rival sites, saying: “As the owner of a centralized site, he is free to do that if he wants. But this is exactly why what we’re building is important - the AT Protocol gives users freedom, and developers locked-open APIs.”
Dorsey is also working on Nostr, which he endorses and financially supported the development of its protocol. However, Graber said the Twitter founder is still on the Bluesky board.
In November, Dorsey issued a public apology to staff after Musk brutally laid-off nearly half of the company’s employees.
The SpaceX founder explained that he had 'no choice' but to cut numbers, since Twitter was losing over $4 million per day.
Dorsey apologized and took responsibility for growing the company size 'too quickly'.
Posting on Twitter on 5 November, Dorsey wrote: "Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment.
"I realise many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."
In a follow-up tweet, he added: "I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever…and I understand."
Graber said the waitlist for the Bluesky reached 1.2 million after Musk bought Twitter and they’ve accepted ‘about 20,000 people so far’. She did not reveal a timeline for when the app will launch.
