It seems we’re not the only ones excited about the new kid on the social media block. The growth of the relatively new app has catapulted in the last few weeks to more than 23 million users and is adding more than a million users a day. 

Although a vast amount of the traffic is coming from news and science communities, the recent growth is largely a result of the recent US election. This can be attributed to the hunger of social media users for political and news content that they will not find on Twitter or Threads. It also should be noted that the platform was invite-only until February this year. 

The decentralised social media platform was created in 2019 by Twitter Founder and former CEO, Jack Dorsey. Sporting many similarities to its creators former flame, BlueSky promises more freedom and control. It provides users with an algorithm free information source, where feeds show chronological content as opposed to favouring posts to maximise engagement or satisfy advertising budgets. 

The fundamental design of Bluesky also means that users won’t be left dissatisfied by the ever-changing goal posts that are evident on the other platforms. It is built on an AP protocol, a decentralized, open-source technology designed to let users control how they experience social media. So, while it may look like a stripped down version of Twitter, it is inherently different. Only time will tell if this difference will have longevity with the “everyday” social media user. 

The tell will be if the 20 person team will be able to keep up with its growth. Specifically, overcoming the recent glitches and outages, allowing users to see live streams and access breaking news easily, without interruption. Although these growing pains are to be expected with the platforms increasing popularity, if users experience too many of them in the early days they are likely to leave the platform and go to any of its alternatives.

So what’s a tweet called on Bluesky?

Skeets of course (Sky Tweet). Skeets are limited to 300 characters and can include images, be liked, or “reskeeted”. You can also mute certain people - allowing you to stop seeing posts or notifications from particular accounts.

There is no doubt that BlueSky has vitality. The question is whether it will be a viable choice for social media users long term. The platform provides text based content that doesn’t bow to an algorithm, allowing users control over what they see and don’t see. Only time will tell if it will be able to reach a critical mass of users while maintaining their mantra of putting the user in the drivers seat.