Jack Dorsey’s new Twitter alternative, Bluesky, is now in closed beta on the App Store. The invitation-only app will soon join a crowded field of new Twitter competitors, including Mastodon.
Interested users can submit their email addresses to join the waitlist. The Bluesky app reportedly borrows heavily from Twitter. However, it includes minor variations such as “What’s up?” instead of “What happened?” with a simplified process to create a post (which can also include photos) by selecting a plus button. Otherwise, it has familiar features like finding and following users and viewing their posts on a Home timeline.
Bluesky started in 2019 as a project funded by Twitter. Dorsey, who founded Twitter and was CEO at the start of the initiative, sees it as a more open alternative to a more centralized Twitter. Then, Bluesky became its own company in 2021. Dorsey said that he believes that social media should not be controlled by corporations or governments and that only authors have the power to remove their social-media content. Additionally, although he said Twitter’s decision to ban Donald Trump after his role in inciting the January 6 uprising was “the right decision,” he also worried about its precedent for endangering a “free and open global internet.”
Whether Twitter users will flee to Bluesky (or other platforms) in sufficient numbers to make a significant difference is an open question. However, considering that many people looking for an alternative are doing so because of current CEO/owner Elon Musk’s headline-grabbing embrace of far-right figures and ideology, it may not make sense. to expect them to flock to an idea of someone who has reservations about prohibition. anyone for any reason.
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