Bluesky Ahead as Invitation-Only Vanishes in the Clouds

Have you heard of Bluesky?

No? Don't feel bad, a lot of people are with you.


Bluesky is an open-source alternative to Twitter (Okay, X) that's been in beta for about a bit less than a year, during which time it's been a by-invitation-only affair. With over three million users, the Bluesky is ready to drop the invitations-only and let us all in.

Bluesky started as an internal project at Jack Dorsey's Twitter but jumped ship as soon as Elon took over. "We really believe that the future of social is, and should be, open and decentralized," Bluesky CEO Jay Graber said. "This is something that we think is good for the public conversation overall."

The platform is much like X and Threads, except the posts are called "skeets." While there is a chronological timeline, you can follow many other user-created algorithmic feeds.

It's important to note that the invitation-only approach can inhibit a platform's growth, especially if there isn't a lot of hoopla or press. Typically, when a platform "goes public," it will see a surge in downloads, either because users want something new or are just curious. The real trick is getting most of those downloading the app to stick around long enough to contribute to growth.

What Bluesky has going for it is that many users have abandoned X, and Threads, while it's doing well at 33 million daily active users and 120 million monthly active users, is a Meta property, and some people just don't like Mark Zuckerberg.

It's a little too early to start throwing around odds of success for Bluesky, but there's a chance that, given the competition between the social media vultures already hovering in the clouds, Bluesky might be able to find just enough of a niche market to keep it flying.

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