Replacing Twitter, this time it’s really possible.
Written by: Moonshot, Geek Park
If you were to name two major celebrity users of X right now, who would you think of? Trump and Musk might be the answers for many.
Follower rankings on X show that Trump and Musk are the most active users in the top ten｜Image source: Wikipedia
Trump's return to the White House owes much to X and his buddy Musk. Discontented with the 'political correctness' of other social media and Trump being banned by Twitter, Musk acquired Twitter.
After Musk made sweeping changes to X, including renaming, layoffs, subscription services, and more, X's valuation has dropped from $44 billion at the time of acquisition to about $9.4 billion, a nearly 80% decrease, with company revenue also declining by 84%, and many major advertisers stopping their ad placements on X.
The most frightening thing is:
Users are also leaving.
X's global daily active users decreased by 15%, while the number of users in the U.S. dropped by 18%. Following the U.S. elections, this user exodus is intensifying. On the day of ballot counting, over 115,000 American users chose to deactivate their X accounts, setting a record since Musk took over.
To apparently cover up user losses, Musk announced last week that he would hide the data on 'likes, comments, and retweets' on the X platform. Musk's reasoning for this was, 'It makes the interface much cleaner.'
Musk has hidden the numbers for likes and other features on X｜Image source: X
However, users do not disappear; they only shift, and one of the destinations for X users is Bluesky.
On the same election ballot counting day, Bluesky attracted about 1.2 million visitors, even higher than Threads' 950,000 visitors. On November 14, Bluesky announced that it added about 2.5 million users in the past week, surpassing 16 million total users, with daily active users soaring to 3.5 million. On November 19, Bluesky officially exceeded 20 million users, growing 300% since election day.
So what exactly is Bluesky? Is it a 'gentle alternative' to X, another fleeting social platform, or a true successor to pre-Musk Twitter?
01 The true successor to Twitter
When you open the Bluesky page, you might think you've clicked into a Twitter profile.
Because it is based on the former Twitter, having evolved from the Twitter company, and from the very beginning, it aimed to become an idealized Twitter.
This flavor is too strong｜Image source: Bluesky
Bluesky began in 2019 when Twitter founder and then CEO Jack Dorsey announced the Bluesky project on Twitter. They aimed to establish a standard for an open and decentralized social media platform, ensuring user data is more secure and content recommendations are less influenced by algorithms.
Jack Dorsey had also revealed this plan in 2019, expressing hope that Twitter would ultimately meet this decentralized standard.
Bluesky became independent from Twitter in 2021, establishing Bluesky Social. After Musk took over Twitter in 2022, Bluesky severed all legal and financial ties with Twitter and began accelerating application development.
Bluesky's original intention is to create a set of decentralized social media technical standards. After 2022, they aimed to directly become a decentralized Twitter.
In February of this year, Bluesky officially opened registration and accumulated 20 million users within ten months, currently experiencing significant growth.
Bluesky and Twitter look almost identical on the page｜Image source: Bluesky
Bluesky is very similar to Twitter in form. Each post contains text, images, and videos within 300 characters, and users can reply, retweet, quote, and like. Although CEO Jay Graber strongly disagrees, Bluesky users refer to the platform's posts as 'skeets' (Sky + Twitter).
What makes Bluesky highly sought after is not just its form highly similar to Twitter, but a model that is fundamentally opposite to X in terms of technology and content.
02 What X opposes, we advocate
Bluesky's core technology is the AT protocol, which allows different social media platforms to communicate with each other, enabling users to follow and interact across various platforms without relying on a single centralized platform.
Users can also choose their data storage location, which can be their own server or cloud storage. The AT protocol ensures that users' data will not be locked into a single platform. Even if users no longer wish to use Bluesky, they can easily take their content and data with them.
From the moment you create an account, you can choose the server for content storage｜Image source: Bluesky
In other words, users are spared the hassle of clicking through app after app for information streams, no longer have to worry about losing data after account deletion, and don’t have to consider migration costs while reluctantly using a social platform they dislike.
Bluesky wants to give developers the freedom to build platforms and allow users the right to leave.
In contrast, how does X operate? Recently, Musk subtly indicated that X is actively limiting the visibility of posts containing external links. In October 2023, he admitted, 'Our algorithm optimizes the time users spend on X, so external links are not prioritized because if people jump through links, they will spend less time on X.'
Skepticism from renowned tech observer Paul Graham｜Image source: X
In January last year, X officially banned third-party clients, marking the end of many famous third-party applications from the Twitter era. In February, X canceled the free API, and on October 30, X announced that the lowest tier of API packages would increase from $100 to $200.
A series of blocking operations stem from Musk's desire to keep users, data, and money within X, but the actual consequence is that all three are in decline.
Today's X and the Bluesky inheriting from Twitter are like incarnations of two major platform icons, one black and white, centralized X, versus the butterfly named Bluesky that evolved from the blue bird.
The platform's temperament is completely different｜Image source: Author's creation
In terms of content, the leaning of Bluesky and X is even more pronounced.
X's control over external links and its leniency towards fake news have triggered extreme dissatisfaction among traditional journalists and media. In early November, the UK’s Guardian announced it would no longer officially post on X, calling it 'a toxic media platform,' and claimed its owner (Musk) 'uses his influence to shape political discourse.'
Previously, foreign media reported that Musk adjusted the platform’s recommendation algorithm to increase the visibility of right-leaning content on X. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center study, X is becoming increasingly popular among right-leaning users, with the spread and interaction of right-leaning content becoming more frequent.
The two major celebrity figures on X—Musk and Trump—have publicly supported right-wing political figures and views several times in the past two years, even expressing support for the far-right party 'Alternative for Germany' (AfD) in Germany.
As we enter the election phase this year, Musk has been tirelessly supporting Trump. The German Wave reported after the election that 'Musk not only spreads false information himself but also retweets and shares other posts containing false elements, misleading narratives, and conspiracy theories.' According to the latest report from CCDH, from January to July 2024, Musk's posts on X regarding fake news accumulated a total of 1.2 billion views.
First buddy comes to the stage｜Image source: AP
X is no longer a neutral social platform; fake news, conspiracy theories, harassing speech, gender opposition, cyber violence, and extreme right ideologies are rampant on the platform, with X leaning fully to the right.
Bluesky cannot be called neutral either; in February 2023, Bluesky started an invitation-only beta, inviting a large number of minority communities and subcultural groups, with user profiles including journalists, transgender individuals, Black artists, left-wing political activists...
(Vice) and (The Atlantic) have both used 'weird' to describe Bluesky's early users, which is both a compliment and a reflection of the diverse atmosphere on the Bluesky platform.
Media praises Bluesky for maintaining its 'weird spirit'｜Image source: Vice
In a recent interview, Bluesky COO Rose Wang stated that the early goal of the open testing period is to 'cultivate a group of users who can help promote Bluesky's philosophy and strengthen community culture.' Bluesky's terms of service also state that 'discriminatory behavior based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation is prohibited.'
It is clear that Bluesky also stands in opposition to X, leaning left in terms of platform inclination.
Moreover, unlike X's echo chamber formed by algorithms like 'recommended follows,' Bluesky's algorithm is also decentralized. Users can customize content recommendation algorithms across different platforms based on their interests, without relying on the algorithm rules of a fixed platform. The official feature 'custom summaries' also spares users from being trapped in an endless algorithmic waterfall.
Prompt before entering Bluesky｜Image source: Bluesky
Twitter was once a global square for breaking news and idea exchange (the name 'Twitter' comes from 'chirping'), but over time and with changes in leadership, it became X, turning into an echo chamber and amplifier for a particular political ideology.
“I believe the influx of new users to Bluesky is actually because people are fed up with X.” said Bluesky COO Rose Wang.
03 How to make money, a fleeting moment?
Bluesky is not the first social platform to challenge X. The previously reported '00s social platform noplace' tried to become a younger version of Twitter but has since faded away after a brief surge.
Emerging social media continues to rise, but the current situation remains a flow of social media with the ironclad Meta and X.
But Bluesky is different; it is born from the authentic Twitter team, inheriting Twitter's content format while innovating in technical approaches. They adhere to the principles of decentralization, diversity, freedom of speech, and data freedom, attempting to address the long-standing grievances people have with social media: closure, algorithms, echo chambers, cyberbullying...
In today's online environment, Bluesky seems so perfect and idealistic.
But the question is, what will sustain these ideals? How to ensure that Bluesky doesn't become the next Twitter that disappears after being acquired?
Perhaps as a lesson from the past, Bluesky has made adjustments in its company structure that are different from other tech companies.
In 2019, Bluesky received $13 million in development funding from Twitter, and by 2022, it became independent as Bluesky Social. Subsequently, Bluesky Social's nature changed to 'non-profit corporation,' allowing it to use its profits for public benefit without the obligation to pursue profit and maximize shareholder value.
According to official disclosures, by the end of 2024, Bluesky's operating funds mainly come from investors and venture capital firms. On October 24, Bluesky announced it had raised $15 million in its Series A funding.
CEO Jay Graber has also promised that Bluesky will remain free to use indefinitely and currently has no plans for an advertising business model. They aim to achieve commercialization while pursuing their values.
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber ｜Image source: Wired
The Bluesky team reflected on the issues faced during Twitter's commercialization: being overly focused on the platform, which had to turn from open to closed to sell platform value. This tendency of Twitter has been accelerated under Musk's X.
Bluesky's commercialization approach is to maintain the platform's openness, returning to the AT protocol they developed themselves. For example, they are already selling custom domain names to users, allowing them not only naming rights but also opening the AT protocol to other applications to charge licensing fees.
At the same time, Bluesky is also considering a paid subscription service, allowing users to pay for higher quality videos, more customizable profiles, and so on. Furthermore, Bluesky is attempting to establish a peer-to-peer payment service within the creator community for purchasing digital artworks, paid articles, code, and tips.
However, as new users cancel their X accounts and register for Bluesky, the financial pressure Bluesky faces is far less than the pressure on its servers.
‘Logging into Bluesky feels like logging into Twitter ten years ago. It’s weird but friendly. Every user is eager for knowledge.’ Many new Bluesky users have expressed similar sentiments.
Bluesky also published an article on its official blog celebrating its Series A funding round, with the previous round of funding heavily invested in developing anti-harassment and security tools. They have currently launched customizable content summaries, open-sourced the review tool Ozone, and started selling custom domain names...
It seems that Bluesky’s future is orderly and clear skies ahead.
The 'Twitter refugees' rally around the 'new king'｜Image source: Bluesky
At the end of the post, they wrote, “Traditional social media companies have closed off public data, locked their APIs, cut off the livelihoods of independent developers, and deployed inscrutable black box algorithms. The old era of social media is over—at Bluesky, we are returning choice and power to you.”
Bluesky embodies the ancient spirit of the internet, emerging in a chaotic era where AI empowers fake news and extreme opposing views dominate. Regardless of how long they can maintain their original intention or whether they can fundamentally shake Meta and X, they have established a new set of rules, presenting the internet and social media as they should be.
The world desperately needs social media like this.
