bluesky social media

Jack Dorsey’s social media side-project called Bluesky is currently opening up its doors for beta testers to register and had already received 30,000 signups in the first 48 hours after the waitlist was launched.

It could be days before the team officially launches this beta version of the service, which attempts to change the dynamics that dominate social media platforms such as monetization via data sharing and centralization.

Bluesky Will Rely on a Federated Network Instead of a Blockchain

One of the aspects that may have befuddled crypto enthusiasts is that Bluesky will not be running on top of a blockchain. This was confirmed by the head of the project, Jay Graber, who commented that the protocol is “blockchain optional and blockchain agnostic”.

“I’m confident in our decision to not put social media content on a blockchain”, Graber commented in a tweet published on 20 October.

Instead of relying on a web3 solution, the AT Protocol will be the underlying technology that will power Bluesky and any other social media platform that decides to implement the model. The protocol works through a network of data repositories that will be “federated”, meaning that they will be synchronized so data can be exchanged between the repositories by using a common language.

Through this technology, the AT Protocol will ensure the interoperability of different systems and will open the door for account portability, which means that users will be able to access all the social media platforms that adopt the protocol by logging into a single account.

Therefore, Bluesky is just one of the social media protocols that will be powered by the AT Protocol and that will compete with other apps such as Twitter, Facebook, and Snap (SNAP) while the protocol itself will be a technology that these rival platforms may decide to adopt if users push for it.

In addition, the algorithm that powers Bluesky’s operations such as its content moderation and timeline display schemes will be opened for users to see so they can know how the platform works. Users with programming knowledge may even tweak the algorithm based on their preferences. That said, content moderation activities will probably be enforced by the platform, not the users.

Will Bluesky Compete with Twitter and Other Social Media Apps?

Questioned about the possibility that Bluesky will compete against Twitter in the social media space, Jack Dorsey commented that the platform will be “a competitor to any company trying to own the underlying fundamentals for social media or the data of the people using it”.

However, he added: “The goal is for Twitter to ultimately be a client of this standard”.

It is unclear how Bluesky will generate money for its operations. It has been reported that it could rely on subscriptions to monetize its user base but this information has not been confirmed by the developing team.

Also read: Could Elon Musk’s Twitter Acquisition Face Regulatory Scrutiny?

Based on the conversations that Jack Dorsey had with Elon Musk in regards to his intentions to acquire Twitter, other possible revenue streams that Bluesky could adopt include facilitating payments between users.

The firm has discarded that it will exploit users’ data for financial gain as Bluesky clients will control how their data is used and will be able to transfer it to other platforms that adopt the underlying protocol without giving up this control.

The so-called data economy is reportedly worth more than $3 trillion according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) published in 2017. However, more recent research reports point out that companies within the United States whose business models rely on the monetization of their users’ data had a combined market value exceeding $5 trillion.

The team that is developing Bluesky and the AT Protocol was assembled and funded by Twitter in 2019 but it is not owned by the social media platform.

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