The buzz this week round Bluesky, a brand new social media platform being referred to as Twitter 2.0, has been intense. Prominent Twitter customers corresponding to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, and the mannequin and cookbook writer Chrissy Teigen have joined. Thousands of others are begging for invites to it.
Some Twitter customers have been on the lookout for another social platform since Elon Musk purchased the corporate final 12 months and then modified the service. Bluesky’s customers say the app — which was funded by a Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey — has come the closest to mimicking Twitter’s tone and really feel.
Here’s what to find out about it.
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a social community that provides most of the similar core options that Twitter does. Users can submit brief textual content and picture updates, reply to one another and share different individuals’s posts.
The app, which continues to be in growth, turned out there for iOS units in February and for Android units this month.
How is Bluesky totally different from Twitter?
Jay Graber, Bluesky’s chief government, stated in a weblog submit final month that it was no coincidence that the app regarded like Twitter. But in contrast to Twitter, Bluesky plans to be a decentralized system, which means individuals might ultimately be capable to construct their very own apps and communities inside it. Ms. Graber stated it was designed that method in order that no particular person might create guidelines for all the Bluesky neighborhood.
Bluesky additionally operates utilizing an “open protocol.” This is uncommon as a result of social media platforms have historically been walled gardens, which means that what’s posted on particular person platforms stays solely on that platform. For occasion, your tweets present up on Twitter and your photographs present up on Instagram, however they can’t be simply cross posted throughout these social networks.
But as a result of Bluesky is attempting to be extra open, it might sometime permit posts to movement between totally different social media platforms with ease.
Last month, a Bluesky person speculated that the app’s identify got here from Mr. Dorsey’s want to rework Twitter into an open protocol, releasing Twitter’s hen mascot to a blue sky. Mr. Dorsey responded, “Yes.”
How do you be a part of Bluesky?
With Bluesky nonetheless beneath growth, it’s at present invitation solely. The app is constructing moderation instruments earlier than opening as much as most people, Ms. Graber stated in a submit on the platform final month. To enroll, individuals want an invite code from a present person.
Why has Bluesky turn into widespread?
Since Mr. Musk purchased Twitter, he has modified the service by eradicating restrictions round on-line speech on the platform and altering its verification practices. Those have led to some person confusion, in addition to to a rise in misinformation and hate speech on the platform.
As a end result, Twitter customers have examined out options. In latest months, some have migrated to Mastodon, one other decentralized social media platform that has stated it goals to be “a viable different to Twitter.”
Bluesky was initially restricted to a small group of tech insiders. On Thursday, a number of outstanding Twitter accounts and public figures — corresponding to Ms. Ocasio Cortez, Ms. Teigen and social media star Dril — joined the platform, creating buzz round it.
Bluesky’s customers look like having enjoyable with the app’s similarities to Twitter, together with calling posts on the app “skeets,” as a play on tweets. Not even a plea from Ms. Graber on Thursday to vary that identify appears to have deterred them.
Kate Conger contributed reporting.