Former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, has long been in favour of a decentralised social media platform. A service that Dorsey is involved with, Bluesky, may have started life as a Twitter division but it’s hoping to soon become its own platform. Its launch is edging nearer, with the app version of the social media protocol turning up on Apple’s App Store.
Don’t get your hopes up too high just yet, though. The fledgling service is still in private beta, meaning that you’ll need an invitation in order to gain access. You can request one here, as it happens. But what’s the point of it all?
Nothing but Bluesky
Social media has several problems, none of which are really being addressed. A key issue is that these business-owned platforms can only ever offer an illusion of free speech. Eventually, a prominent user will say or do something that threatens the bottom line. The solution, from a business perspective, is to get rid of that user. And everyone like them. An undetermined time later, you’ve got yourself a little club where everyone thinks exactly the same. That’s got the same (mental) effect as a very limited gene pool. Ideas stagnate and die since they’re reproducing with themselves. Bluesky hopes to offer a way around this scenario (and a few others).
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The app intends to do this by releasing something it called the AT Protocol. Rather than having something to do with Neon Genesis Evangelion, it’s “…a new foundation for social networking which gives creators independence from platforms, developers the freedom to build, and users a choice in their experience.”
The Bluesky app is a technological demonstration of the protocol but since it’s not out in the world, it’s hard to say what the experience is like. The fact that access to the app is ramping up suggests that Bluesky could soon be ready for a more public unveiling. Stuff has requested access to the private beta. If we hear anything more about this new approach to social networks, you’ll be the first to know.
