The platform began as a project inside Twitter, experimenting with a protocol to decentralise the social media application (app), but when Elon Musk bought Twitter the blue butterfly’s creators decided to go their own way.
And now X, formerly Twitter, is losing users who are migrating to the blue butterfly called Bluesky, a new app, at the rate of a million users every day.
In the last few days, according to several media outlets specialised in technological trends, the platform has grown to almost 20 million users, a figure that shows the real interest there is in finding a viable alternative to X.
The biggest rise was driven by Donald Trump’s recent victory in the United States presidential elections and the strong influence of Elon Musk and his social media network in the process.
Less than 24 hours after the announcement on X of Trump’s victory, the digital social media network attracted 46.5 million visitors, a 38% increase compared to a normal day in the last few months. However, as the days passed over 115,000 users deleted their accounts, the highest figure since Elon Musk bought the platform.
There are notable similarities between X and Bluesky such as the 256-character posts that can also contain images and videos and the ability to share and reply to what other users publish. But the main difference lies in Bluesky’s open and free nature compared to Twitter, now owned by the magnate who is also the owner of Tesla.
Bluesky, founded in 2019 by Twitter’s co-creator, Jack Dorsey, offers an alternative to X with a more effective system for combating problematic accounts and supervising offensive behaviour.
This is through the fact that it is a decentralised microblogging social networking service based on an open standard protocol called ‘Authenticated Transfer Protocol’ (AT Protocol), through which users and developers have a greater number of options for personalising or managing the network, as well as choosing algorithms that determine the type of content that appears on their screens. Bluesky “was designed not to be controlled by a single company,” it does not have adverts and it does not intend to in the future. Its users describe it as “an improved version of Twitter”. They can block each other, whereas on X today a user sees the posts of someone who has blocked them.
In addition, its main feed is chronological and does not have algorithms. You simply see the messages from the people you follow in the order they were sent. The app has created threads and tools to follow other users more dynamically and its design almost recreates the experience of early social media, “offering a kinder and more collaborative atmosphere,” analysts point out.
Recently, Bluesky clarified its stance on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and declared that it does not train its models with users’ data “nor does it intend to” in the future.
It has also indicated that it employs this technology “to help with content moderation”, using it to classify posts and protect moderators from potentially harmful content.
Bluesky also uses AI in its Discover (Descubrir) algorithmic feed to show posts it considers of interest to the user, which it highlights in its terms of service where it also points out that it uses this data to develop and improve its current and future offerings. The creators of the microblogging platform explained their line on AI following the implementation of changes related to it affecting users’ privacy, considering its main competitor, X. PL
(Translated by Philip Walker – Email: philipwalkertranslation@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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