In recent times, Twitter has been the scene of controversy, leading many users to consider abandoning the platform due to the unpopular changes promoted by Elon Musk, the current leader of the company. A 2022 study estimates that approximately 32 million users will leave Twitter by 2024, but where are they moving to? One of the bets of the moment is BlueSky.
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Considered by many to be Twitter's new competitor, just as it happened with Mastodon, Substak Notes and the exclusively Brazilian phenomenon Koo, this social network shares several characteristics with the famous microblog, but presents some differences that promise to transform the way we use networks. social.
When entering BlueSky, either through an invitation from another user or through the application's waiting list, users find an interface practically identical to that of Twitter. There, they can publish, retweet, like, reply to posts and follow other profiles.
However, the beta version of BlueSky, now available for iOS and also accessible via the web, still has some limitations. Users cannot send direct messages and the platform does not support videos, audios or GIFs, as well as having a slower load to update the feed.
Despite the aesthetic similarity and usability quite similar to the “rich cousin”, BlueSky does not intend to be just another social network. Its creator, Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter, aims to create a “decentralized Twitter”, providing total freedom to users.
The great innovation of BlueSky is to offer more autonomy to the user, allowing not only to understand how the platform works - since the application is developed in open source -, but also allowing each user to choose their own algorithm through an API, deciding how , when and what type of content you want to consume.
According to the company, the problem with current social networks is not the existence of algorithms, but how they are used in a non-transparent way to direct the user. In the words of BlueSky, “the ability to customize your feed will give the user back control of their most valuable resource: their attention”.
Imagine that you are a digital influencer with thousands of followers. Suddenly, an unexpected change occurs in the platform you use, like losing your verification badge. Faced with this unpleasant surprise, it's understandable to want to completely abandon the social network, isn't it?
Currently, doing so would mean losing your entire audience and having to start over from virtually zero. Now, imagine if you could simply move your entire follower base elsewhere. This is exactly what BlueSky promises with the Authenticated Transfer Protocol (or AT Protocol, for the most intimate).
To explain it in a simpler way, as Michael del Castillo, editor of Forbes magazine, the functioning of social networks would be like email. We may have an address on Gmail and another on Yahoo, but that doesn't stop us from exchanging messages between them.
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In other words, AT Protocol is a technology that promises to integrate and transmit data and information securely and reliably across different platforms. That's right: your posts and followers from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and other social networks, all in one place, according to your preference.
Although BlueSky is billed as the “new Twitter”, it is too early to determine its success or failure. However, it is undeniable that the application's proposal arouses, at the very least, curiosity about the future of social networks. BlueSky already has more than 1 million people on its waiting list to create an account, even before the official launch. We'll be looking forward to discovering the next chapters in this story.
