The thrill this week round Bluesky, a brand new social media platform being known as Twitter 2.0, has been intense. Outstanding Twitter customers akin to Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, and the mannequin and cookbook writer Chrissy Teigen have joined. 1000’s of others are begging for invites to it.
Some Twitter customers have been on the lookout for an alternate social platform since Elon Musk purchased the corporate final 12 months after which modified the service. Bluesky’s customers say the app — which was funded by a Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey — has come the closest to mimicking Twitter’s tone and really feel.
Right here’s what to learn about it.
What’s Bluesky?
Bluesky is a social community that provides lots of the identical core options that Twitter does. Customers can submit brief textual content and picture updates, reply to one another and share different folks’s posts.
The app, which continues to be in improvement, turned accessible for iOS gadgets in February and for Android gadgets this month.
How is Bluesky completely different from Twitter?
Jay Graber, Bluesky’s chief government, mentioned in a weblog submit final month that it was no coincidence that the app regarded like Twitter. However not like Twitter, Bluesky plans to be a decentralized system, which means folks might finally be capable of construct their very own apps and communities inside it. Ms. Graber mentioned it was designed that means in order that no particular person might create guidelines for the complete Bluesky group.
Bluesky additionally operates utilizing an “open protocol.” That is uncommon as a result of social media platforms have historically been walled gardens, which means that what’s posted on particular person platforms stays solely on that platform. As an illustration, your tweets present up on Twitter and your pictures present up on Instagram, however they can’t be simply cross-posted throughout these social networks.
However as a result of Bluesky is attempting to be extra open, it might sometime enable posts to movement between completely different social media platforms with ease.
Final month, a Bluesky consumer speculated that the app’s title got here from Mr. Dorsey’s want to remodel Twitter into an open protocol, releasing Twitter’s hen mascot to a blue sky. Mr. Dorsey responded, “Sure.”
How do you be part of Bluesky?
With Bluesky nonetheless underneath improvement, it’s at the moment invitation solely. The app is constructing moderation instruments earlier than opening as much as most people, Ms. Graber mentioned in a submit on the platform final month. To enroll, folks want an invite code from a present consumer.
Why has Bluesky turn into standard?
Since Mr. Musk purchased Twitter, he has modified the service by eradicating restrictions round on-line speech on the platform and altering its verification practices. These have led to some consumer confusion, in addition to to an enhance in misinformation and hate speech on the platform.
In consequence, Twitter customers have examined out options. In current months, some have migrated to Mastodon, one other decentralized social media platform that has mentioned it goals to be “a viable different to Twitter.”
Bluesky was initially restricted to a small group of tech insiders. On Thursday, a number of distinguished Twitter accounts and public figures — akin to Ms. Ocasio Cortez, Ms. Teigen and the social media star Dril — joined the platform, creating buzz round it.
Bluesky’s customers look like having enjoyable with the app’s similarities to Twitter, together with calling posts on the app “skeets,” as a play on tweets. Not even a plea from Ms. Graber on Thursday to vary that title appears to have deterred them.
Kate Conger contributed reporting.
