Technical

Srinivasa Reddy Kandi: What is Bluesky? Everything you need to know about the X rival

September, 24, 2025-04:25

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What is Bluesky? Everything you need to know about the X rival

Is the grass greener on the other side? Maybe not—but the sky is definitely bluer.

It’s been more than two years since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now called X, sparking an exodus of users toward alternative platforms. Apps like Mastodon, Post, Pebble (two of which have already shut down), and Spill have all tried to fill the gap. But aside from Meta’s Threads, few challengers have gained momentum as quickly as Bluesky.

By February 2025, Bluesky had surpassed 30 million users, driven in part by unpopular changes at X—such as altering the block feature and allowing outside companies to train AI models on user posts. The platform also saw a surge after the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which contributed to a wave of X departures, including from Taylor Swift fans. Still, growth has slowed, and Bluesky remains far behind Threads, which now has 275 million monthly active users.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is a decentralized social network conceived by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and originally developed alongside Twitter. Its interface feels familiar to Twitter/X users but comes with key differences:

Algorithmic choice: Users can pick how their feeds are ranked and displayed.

Federated design: Communities can run their own servers but remain interconnected.

Custom moderation: Rules can be tailored to individual communities.

The app is built on Bluesky’s in-house AT Protocol, an open-source framework that allows anyone to see how it works and track ongoing development.

A brief history:

Dorsey announced the Bluesky project in 2019, while still leading Twitter. At the time, Twitter pledged to fund a “small independent team of up to five open-source architects, engineers, and designers” tasked with building a decentralized social media standard that Twitter itself might one day adopt.

That vision changed when Musk bought Twitter in 2022. Bluesky is now fully independent and operates as a public benefit corporation led by CEO Jay Graber. Dorsey stepped down from the board in May 2024, severing official ties with the project.

Author: Kandi Srinivasa Reddy, Srinivasa Reddy Kandi, #KandiSrinivasaReddy, #SrinivasaReddyKandi