Millions of people are joining the wait list to use the new social media platform, Bluesky, that is now an alternative to Twitter. However, if you are one of them (As you will surely be soon), then you need to know Bluesky terms to interact well on the social media platform.
You may be wondering why the new micro-blogging platform by ex-Twitter Co-Founder, Jack Dorsey is the new destination for social media lovers. Well, here is the catch.
Jack Dorsey, the Co-Founder of Twitter, has launched a Twitter alternative he calls Bluesky.
Millions of people are now rushing to join the wait list for the new micro-blogging site.
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While it has registered over a million users even though it has not been launched to the general public yet, the Bluesky app has been downloaded by iPhone users alone over 360,000 times as at Friday April 28, 2023, consumer data group Data.ai confirms.
The surge to the platform is mainly from people who are users of Twitter. This is because, the recent developments at Twitter has pushed many people to exit the platform and seek alternative ones. And Bluesky is their current choice.
Elon Musk Changes At Twitter:
Ever since Tesla CEO, Elon Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars, he has been introducing changes which have, rather, infuriated users and now, Twitter users are leaving in droves and heading to Bluesky.
The latest straw breaking the Camel’s back for Twitter users is the recent removal of the Blue Tick on users’ accounts by Musk.
Twitter users who wished to have the blue tick on their accounts would have to subscribe for it for 8$ a month.
Meanwhile, recall that the Blue checkmark on users’ accounts help in identifying who is who on Twitter, making for credibility.
However, Twitter suddenly removed the Blue Tick on accounts of celebrities, prominent personalities and musicians, thereby reducing the credibility of their accounts.
Without the Blue checkmark, even a hacker can easily impersonate anybody or any company.
In Nigeria, billionaires Tony Eleumelu, Dangote and musicians such as Davido and Wizkid had their accounts stripped of the blue tick mark.
Although Twitter has since restored the blue tick on some accounts, especially all accounts with one million followers and above, the damage seem to have been done already.
What even makes Bluesky a ready choice is that the new micro-blogging site is just like Twitter, except that it uses different terms.
Also, the interface are especially similar. However, Bluesky is not yet accessible to the general public as it is still in Beta.
Therefore, you can only access it via an invite code.
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Meanwhile, the platform has a federated moderation tool – AT Protocol – for moderating the conversations on the platform.
This tool helps the platform in maintaining its positive environment, as no toxic conversations have started yet on the platform.
Also, the decentralized micro-blogging cite lets users apply custom filters and labels even from their preferred third parties. This helps users streamline their social feed for what they need.
How Bluesky interface is:
Bluesky is a feeds-based social network. This means that you get to interact and see updates based on feeds.
Although not everyone can use the social media platform yet, as it is still in the Beta stage, those who have used it have recounted how cool the platform is.
First, the user interface, according to users, is much similar to Twitter! This is expected since the founder, Jack Dorsey was also the C0-Founder of Twitter.
Another similarities is that you can send text, pictures, like people’s comments, make your own comments and or share people’s comments on Bluesky just like you would on Twitter.
However, you must do these things under some terms that are different from what Twitter calls them. So, instead of “Tweeting” like you do on Twitter, on Bluesky, you would be doing same thing as “Skeeting.”
Also, while on Twitter, you have “Timelines,” on Bluesky, its called “Skylines.”
Difference Between Bluesky and Twitter:
In contrast to Twitter, Bluesky is an invites-only social media platform. This means that you can’t just sign up and start using the platform like you do for Twitter.
However, you would have to join a wait list and wait until the platform invites you to join via a code.
Also, Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform. This means that user data is stored in independent servers rather than on Bluesky’s server.
This decentralized nature of the Bluesky therefore, gives users more autonomy in how they interact on the platform.
To explain this further, a contrast with Twitter suffices.
Note that Twitter is a centralized service while Bluesky is a decentralized service.
As a centralized service, all user data, such as tweets, likes, and comments, are stored on Twitter’s servers. This gives Twitter absolute control over how user data is accessed, managed and used.
However, Bluesky is a decentralized service and so, the platform has no control over users’ data.
Also, for the decentralized app, user dats are stored on independent servers. What this means is that no one company has control over all of the data.
This gives users more autonomy and control over their data, allowing them to interact with the platform without fear of censorship or data misuse.
The decentralization of data also means that users can join or leave the platform without losing their data or history, as it is stored on independent servers.
So, any day a Bluesky user decides to exit the platform, he or she can exit with all his or her followers and chat history to continue on any other app from where they stopped.
Corroborating this, the CEO of Bluesky, Jay Graber, had said in a blog post thus:
“We envision an open social media ecosystem where developers have more opportunity to build and innovate, and users have more choice and control over which services they use and their experience on social media as a whole.”
How To Get A Bluesky Invite:
Since the platform is currently an invite-only, you need to have the invite before you can use the platform.
So, how to get the invite?
Look for someone who is already a user to invite you.
So, someone must tag you to be able to join.
The invite system shows that all users on the platform are organic. This is also because, each user has certain invite allocation allotted to them.
How To Download The Bluesky App:
To use the platform, you must be invited.
However, to get ready, you can download some versions of the app on the various app stores.
You can download the social media app via the Google Play store for android phone users or the Apple App Store iPhone users.
Steps to follow on Bluesky:
What to expect and what to do while trying to set up your Bluesky account:
While setting up your account, Bluesky allows you choose from different hosting providers. If you don’t know which host to choose, you can choose Bluesky’s default host provider.
After choosing your host provider, set up your username. Note, user names on Bluesky appear like domain names. Usrname can be like this: Anita.bsky.social.
This username format can help in identifying or distinguishing a person. So, lets say you are a journalist that wants to maintain credibility, you can have a username that includes your media platform. For instance, your username could be Joe.CNN.Techeditor.bsky.social.
After choosing a username, you can then follow other users via the “Following Feed” section.
Note that your Following Feed could initially show empty when you join newly but soon, you will see thousands or millions of other followers already using the platform.
If you are still wondering how it works, a video by the CEO, Jay Graber is there to welcome you.
Also, you will see a section called “What’s Hot.” Here, you get all the latest gist on the platform.
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