X Alternative Bluesky Opens To All, But Will It Catch On?

Bluesky, a decentralized alternative to social platform X, is now available to all, with 1.3 million people signing up by the fourth day after going public: but will it catch on?

The platform’s CEO, Jay Graber, shared the news via X posts, after Bluesky moved out of its invite-only beta phase which attracted over 3 million users.

Started and initially funded by the original Twitter platform, it still looks very similar, but is now independent from Elon Musk’s X. 

The AT Protocol, the open-source framework powering Bluesky, enables new ways for its users to communicate with each other, and gives them control over their own data with the ability to self-host.

Users can transfer their personal data, friends, contacts and activity insights from other apps into a single online presence that they have control over, without the influence of algorithms and corporations. 

“The goals here are to give developers the freedom to build, and users the right to leave. The ability for people to host their own data means that users always have other alternatives, and that their experience doesn’t have to just come from us.”, shared Graber in an interview.

While it’s been discussed as a potential game-changer for social media, free and open-source platforms like Bluesky or Mastodon still need to reach critical mass in terms of their user base numbers.

The network effect is crucial to the success of social platforms, because increased numbers of users also increase the value of the product or service that the users are accessing.

Without mainstream popularity, they’re unlikely to become dominant over well-known social media giants such as Meta.

But with the advances in user experience on open-source platforms and scandals related to user safety and data privacy on established platforms, the tipping point might not be too far off.

To learn more about Bluesky, visit its website here.