Comment by sounddetective
5 days ago
Everyone reading this -- sign up for Bluesky, help it build up a larger network effect, so it can outcompete X. It already has 30m users.
5 days ago
Everyone reading this -- sign up for Bluesky, help it build up a larger network effect, so it can outcompete X. It already has 30m users.
The secret to happiness is not to leave X and join Bluesky, but simply to leave X.
These platforms are massively net-negative for the vast majority of people.
Go outside!
Who owns bsky? What prevents a random billionaire to buy it and use it their election platform? Mastodon just feels as a safer bet...
Bluesky is owned by cryptocurrency grifters. It's disheartening to see people flock to it like it's the greener pasture.
At best it's less toxic, but only marginally. They implemented even more dunk mechanisms that X has, so it's primed to be a terrible place long-term.
User-owned, federated social media is absolutely the safest bet if you want low toxicity and freedom from corporate control.
bsky is decentralized, in theory more so than Mastodon, which is federated (a variant of decentralization that requires you to trust the server admins of a server of your choice)
"In theory", because so far, there are very few nodes (one?), very few (if any?) alternative implementations, most is controlled and operated by a small team paid for by a.o. Jack Dorsey and other funds. Mastodon (using the ActivityPub protocol) has one main repo, managed by one person under a non-profit that also operates the biggest instance. But also has dozens of other implementations in other languages, with other niches, with more, less, other features and so on.
So, "best bet" would probably be to:
- Sign up at both a Mastodon and Bsky. Try them both for while.
- See which one fits your needs, style and practical needs best. Stick with that one.
Bluesky is neither decentralised nor federated.
I wouldn't let that stop you from signing up for bluesky -- in my experience it is definitely the best of the options for a twitter alternative -- but you should know exactly what it is you're getting into before you get into it.
And if you want to know exactly what you're getting into with bluesky, you should read this, which tells you more than you really want to know: https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/
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I think a big pro for Bluesky from a tech perspective is how widely people are using their own websites as their handles and as verification. It doesn't do anything to protect Bluesky from going to hell but it does make it significantly easier to relink with people again.
Mastodon has failed to show any signs of hitting a critical mass so I kind of feel like it's a different level of social network altogether. A lot more durable and worth making an effort with but unlikely to ever become much more significant than it currently is.
Twitter is valuable only because of its network effect. Not everyone is going to try both of the apps. Thus, they will lag in both places.
There can be only one winner I presume.
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I have and deactivated my account a day or two in -- that un-removable message up top that it will use your posts, likes, etc to train their models unsettled me. At least they were upfront about it, unlike Twitter/X.
I also didn't like that I had 30 different followers the moment I signed up.
Bsky doesn't train AIs using your data. They're warning you that your data may be scraped and used as such by third parties.
Do they believe free in free speech, or will I also be banned/blocked from saying things there?
>>Do they believe free in free speech
No they don't, blue-sky belongs to the former twitter owner, aka THE BUBBLE ;)
BTW: He was not welcomed at FOSDEM because he is billionaire, when a movement eats itself ;)
https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares...
Dorsey does not own bluesky, he's been kicked out a long time ago. Your link even says as much.
He was not welcomed by a small minority at FOSDEM*
Minorities with loud voices always wins because people don't want to deal with bullshit
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bsky still lacks basic security features like 2FA (beyond an email code) (andOAuth implementation), which puts me off from actively using it...