Introducing BlueSky - Is BlueSky a New Twitter?

Photo illustration by Slate, Photos by Bluesky, X, and Unsplash.

Introduction of BlueSky

Imagine a social media platform where you hold—your data, your content, your regulations. Sounds too good to be true?

Introducing BlueSky, the new online connection you’ve been waiting for. But does BlueSky just have the same? “Similar” to having things on Twitter? Or is it quite something else? 

Let’s dig in and explore what sets BlueSky apart from the rest of the social media landscape today.

What is BlueSky?

At heart, BlueSky is an open social network created to provide users with a degree of control that has never been available before. It’s built on top of the AT Protocol, a decentralized networking protocol designed to support interoperability, data ownership, and user freedom.

BlueSky, unlike your rate-offered platforms, is not a walled garden. To innovate freely, it welcomes developers; to have true ownership of their digital lives, it welcomes users; and to keep real relationships with humans, it welcomes creators. It’s not simply another app; it’s the infrastructure for the next era of online engagement.

Who Owns BlueSky?

BlueSky began life as a Twitter project, dating back to 2019. It was the product of Jack Dorsey, the former chief executive and co-founder of Twitter, who had envisioned a decentralized future for social media. As an independent company, BlueSky can pursue its underpinning mission without any one platform—even, yes, Twitter itself—dictating terms.

Is BlueSky a New Twitter?

This is the burning question that everyone is asking. Although BlueSky strongly resembles Twitter visually and functionally (posts of up to 300 characters, follow accounts, scroll through a timeline).

BlueSky is federated, so no gigantic tech mega corporation holds all your data hostage. Instead, you own it. The algorithms behind the platform also function differently—users have more control over their feeds to prioritize the content they want to see, avoiding the one-size-fits-all solution prevalent in centralized platforms like Twitter.