We've written more than one post about Bluesky focusing on what we've observed during our pitiful attempts at self-promotion. Now, however, we'll be taking a deeper look at what is often called the nicer Twitter. This is where many migrated en masse to escape Elon Musk's takeover. The platform, which began as invite-only and earlier this year opened the doors to the general public, is still evolving, but where is it evolving to?
(Note: we may have exaggerated a little for comedic effect so please don't sue us or use this as 'evidence' in a conspiracy theory)
NO ALGORITHM?
In addition to a nicer community, Bluesky also boasts the lack of an algorithm. No more will users be dependent on the whims of the unseen forces that regulate the timeline - here you see exactly what you want. And it's all thanks to the custom-made Feeds, which help you sort posts by theme. With the Feeds, you make your algorithm. You can choose from hundreds of thousands of already existing Feeds or you can make your own. There are even Feed builders for people who can't code! Except, they're not that easy to use and isn't it much simpler to just pick an already made one? After all, they only find specific hashtags and keywords, right? WRONG!😱 Even the no-coding-needed Feed builders allow users to exclude a lot of things, including whole lists of accounts. And you will NEVER know unless the Feed maker tells you. This could rob one of many interesting accounts that have incurred the wrath of whoever created a given Feed... and could also effectively lock someone out of a larger community, pushing them to the fringes of the platform, without the affected individual knowing about their banishment. After all, there are no stats on Bluesky, so you have no idea how many people are even seeing your posts and it's quite easy to be unknowingly stuck yelling into the void. How many will take the initiative of making Feeds geared to a community? How many of those Feeds will become popular enough to attract new users? And how many people will make different Feeds geared at more than one community? Likely not that many. Why bother with that if others are already doing it for you? The Feeds made based on users' lists are more honest - you already know you're going to have to ask to be included in the list to show up on the Feed, which leaves accounts at the mercy of whoever's running the show. If one of these Feeds gains prominence among a particular community, who's going to bother looking for anything else? And how easy would it be to question the Feed maker's wisdom? All this means that a single person could effectively mold the platform for hundreds of people or more. Doesn't sound very utopian, does it?
CYBER INDEX
Remember how back in 2019 Twitter's List feature was denounced as a tool for harassment? Or maybe you still remember Block Together, which made it possible for people to create and share Block Lists that could be used to mass block Twitter accounts, and was accused by several people of making harassment easier when they announced the end of the project in 2020? Clearly, Bluesky doesn't, or they wouldn't have created shareable Mute/Block Lists as part of their moderation tools.😒 Nothing is one hundred per cent private on Bluesky except Muting, and it's possible to see which lists an account is on, who blocked that account, and even the most blocked accounts on the platform on https://bsky.thieflord.dev. Depending on why someone blocked someone else, telling people who blocked them might not be the wisest thing, but clearly Bluesky isn't a fan of privacy. Like their Twitter and Block Together counterparts, it's very easy to see how the Bluesky Lists can be misused. It would be so easy to just add a bunch of innocent accounts to one and give it an inflammatory name to get others to unleash their self-righteousness. After all, all they have to do is click Subscribe followed by Block or Mute. Even better? The List maker can add or remove accounts without needing to make a new one. Much like with Feeds, how many people will make their own Lists VS using one made by another account that seemingly well-intended, more established accounts share with their followers?
Another moderation tool is Labels, which are offered through several third party apps that Bluesky users can subscribe to. Labels can be applied to individual posts or whole accounts. This last one means all posts will have that Label, regardless of what they're about. People won't know they've been labelled unless they've subscribed to that particular Labeler or someone else tells them. If you can see how this could go horribly wrong, congratulations - you're wiser than the entirety of the Bluesky Team.
This is basically the Inquisition at your fingertips, and all it takes is a handful of accounts to spread it and shape the cyber map of one or more communities. Of course, a social media platform is the sum of its users, and people on Bluesky are nice... aren't they?
BLUESKY IS PEOPLE
Bluesky gives users a vast array of tools to customize their personal experience. Some people, however, seem less interested in creating a space for themselves than forcing their rules on everyone else. And in a pretty obnoxious way. Newbies are constantly blamed for every negative change by the prickly Elders, who liked it better when the platform was a little more exclusive. The discussion about artists not adding Alt Text to their art, which routinely pops up on our Feeds, has it all. On the surface, the goal is quite noble - to educate people on the importance of improving accessibility for blind and low vision users - but the way they go about it is not. The entitlement (how dare artists think making it harder for AI to steal their source of income is more important)! The egomania (allow me to announce that I will not repost art missing Alt Text, I will not Like it, and, in fact, I may even block those accounts)! The circle jerk (we are superior, enlightened beings and no one cares as much as we do)! The elitism (of course everything changed when it stopped being invite-only and they let the riff-raff in)! At one point, a concerned user was delighted to learn about a Labeler that hid posts with no Alt Text because he didn't want to enjoy anything his blind friends couldn't. Another one reminded everybody that using 'lame' to mean 'bad' is ableist. These aren't people who will have an issue with all the little quirks we mentioned so far - they are the kind of people who will embrace them to crush their enemies!😱
COMMUNITY
We find it quite interesting that Bluesky puts so much emphasis on community because, looking at their most famous feature, it doesn't feel geared that way. Feeds collect a bunch of stuff in one place so you don't have to search throughout the platform for accounts and posts about whatever you want to see. It's like being in a room with dozens of screens, each showing you a subject you're interested in. You don't even have to follow accounts anymore - you can just check their posts when they pop up in the corresponding thematic Feed, or, if they always use specific keywords or hashtags in the posts you want to see, you can just make your own Feed to pick them up. This way, you won't need to have all their other posts you aren't interested in in your timeline. Doesn't sound very sociable, does it? Yet, from the start, there's been this attempt at building communities. The way the invite-only system was implemented facilitated the creation of organized groups within the platform; groups with recognized key figures that built their own Feeds and Lists, and we've already explained what those can do. And of course, there's no way to make a Feed private, which is very odd, as why do other people need to know what you like? Then again, they can't know if you really like any of that, can they? Because while the person whose post was liked by a user will get a notification, there's no way for anyone else to know because users' profiles don't include a public Like tab. So, it's harder to tell whether that person is genuine or a fake. When recently Musk did the same on Twitter, people immediately accused him of wanting to cover for Nazis. Strangely, no one seems to have a problem with it on Bluesky.
And now, you have Starter Packs, which are a way to help your friends get acclimated by providing them with a list of accounts and Feeds to follow. Anyone can add anyone to a Starter Pack and there's no way to prevent that or force them to remove you if they do. Once again, everyone but the Bluesky Team can see how this can be misused to target people. However, it can also be used to reinforce the echo chamber of your choice and increase its denizens. Because, let's face it, there's no need for this if you're talking about actual friends. People are likely already sharing their favourite accounts and Feeds with any of their friends planning to join the platform. What Starter Packs will make easier is the reinforcement of each echo chamber by providing a list of what you should be watching to a whole bunch of people following their creators and those followers' followers and so on. Beneath their cutesy exterior, Starter Packs are purveyors of groupthink.
It's ironic how one of the complaints about algorithms is that they tend to create echo chambers, and yet all the special features supplied by algorithm-free Bluesky guarantee just that.
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Sure, the Bluesky Team looks super nice - perhaps, too nice? - but appearances can be deceiving. We know who their investors are... but what about their investors' investors? We found an announcement from the Bluesky Team from July 2023 called Our Plan for a Sustainably Open Social Network which said 'We raised $8M in a seed round led by Neo, a community-led firm with amazing partners'. Aw, that sounds nice. Neo's team also looks nice and is not overpopulated with old white men. But where is Neo's money coming from? Well, turns out they have a lot of investors and we just couldn't resist seeing if there were any red flags. After reading several of Shanley Kane's diatribes against Marc Andreessen and others, it was a little unsettling to count 4 investors connected to a16z, 2 investors in OpenAI, 1 from Y Combinator, 1 investor in Palantir, 1 investor in Anduril, 1 investor in SpaceX, Sam Altman, and Sheryl Sandberg. Well, at least we know who they are, so that puts Bluesky ahead of random instance managers on Mastodon. We were a little disappointed there wasn't anyone from Founders Fund, but Neo also has several investments in AI, which is troubling. But of course, Bluesky isn't Neo. And yes, Jack Dorsey was involved, but he left because he didn't agree with the rest of the team on moderation, so surely this means that the Bluesky Team is good, right?
REVELATION
What is Bluesky? Just a friendlier alternative to Twitter that graciously opened its doors to those desperate for a safe space? A less complicated version of the Fediverse for all those who have misgivings about joining Mastodon? A more colourful option for those who find Threads too boring? Or is there something else behind it? But what nefarious goals could it possibly have? After all, it's doing everything it can to help people who share common interests and values build online communities by providing a collection of tools that allow leaders to mold them into ever more consistent and united groups. Why, it's almost as if they're proper societies. Online. United across borders. At a time when there's a generalized dissatisfaction with traditional governments and representative democracy. Reminds you of something? This has to be the real reason Musk is trying to ruin Twitter! It was already a cesspool before he bought it, but people still stayed and it was clear only a cataclysm of epic proportions would push them out. So, there's Mastodon and Threads, but one looks too complicated and the other is owned by Meta. Enter Bluesky, simpler, with no dark associations, and a development team that couldn't be further from Musk and his tech billionaire pals' collective Bond villain act.
Because Bluesky isn't nicer Twitter - it's the Network State repackaged for the Left-wingers who couldn't get through those ridiculously long Twitter threads explaining how to join Mastodon!😱