Bluesky Social, a decentralized alternative to Twitter, is now available on the App Store as a private beta, with an invite-only access.
The Bluesky project was started by former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey. It was funded by Twitter until 2021 after Dorsey stepped down as Twitter’s CEO.
Three months after resigning, Dorsey announced that Bluesky was “an independent organization,” with the mission of developing and driving “large-scale adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation.”
The platform’s interface and functionality resemble Twitter. Users can follow others and be followed, repost content, and even upload images. Also, posts have a maximum of 256 characters.
The company claims that the platform is powered by the “AT Protocol,” which it describes as a new federated social network that allows “servers to communicate with each other — like email. Instead of one site running the network, you can have many sites. It means you get a choice of provider, and individuals and businesses can self-host if they want.”
The company claims that the protocol allows algorithmic choice, interoperability, and account portability, which allows users to move accounts across different providers without losing data.
“The many existing decentralized social networks that currently make up the ecosystem can be categorized into federated and p2p architectures. Our approach will be to combine the best of both worlds by integrating the portability of self-certifying protocols with the user-friendliness of delegated hosting, so users don’t have to run their own infrastructure and developers can build performant apps,” the company said in a statement.
“Moderation is an important part of any online social forum, which is why we will proactively build tooling for reputation and moderation systems that are transparent, opt-in, and multi-layered, as well as create frameworks for others to build such tooling.”
The company noted that currently, the platform does not use blockchain.
“Bluesky is not a blockchain. We believe the adoption of social web protocols should be independent of any blockchain,” it said.
In a world where digital platforms are increasingly under scrutiny for content censorship, Bluesky is giving users control over moderation. The brainchild of CEO Jay Graber, Bluesky’s content moderation system promises to be both “composable” and “customizable,” providing users with unprecedented control over the content they encounter on the platform.
Drawing inspiration from its unique algorithm, Bluesky says it aims to make content moderation a seamless and intuitive experience for users.
The dynamic nature of Bluesky’s content moderation strategy works through a three-tier system.
The first level involves automated filtering to identify and remove illegal content and flag potentially “offensive” material, but not delete it.
Next, server-level filters are employed to further refine the moderation process. Finally, users can subscribe to moderation labels to customize their online experience, excluding content or users that do not align with their preferences.
One of Bluesky’s features is its structurally independent moderation service. This allows users to switch between different moderation systems, even those belonging to other online communities, without having to change their network. Dubbed “community labeling,” this innovation empowers users to create a tailor-made online experience that reflects their individual preferences and values.
