Summary
Journalists are increasingly abandoning X (formerly Twitter) for Bluesky, citing higher engagement and less toxicity. Since Elon Musk’s takeover of X, changes like deprioritizing external links and rising hate speech have alienated many, especially marginalized groups.
Bluesky, founded by Jack Dorsey, offers a more welcoming environment, especially for journalists and activists, with 20x the engagement in some cases.
Reporters note better traffic, reduced harassment, and a focus on diverse stories.
Organizations like The Guardian and fundraising groups also report greater success on Bluesky compared to X.
Bluesky is a registered public benefit company and Dorsey is no longer with the company and no longer on the board.
Phew … then we can trust the open software that is locked to one company and one instance essentially leaving control to a handful of people.
What could go wrong?
I’m not saying open software isn’t awesome. I’m simply correcting a common misconception.
I agree, there is nothing wrong with Open Software … the problem is the way Bluesky is being arranged and developed. They are essentially cornering the development to create a situation where only one company and one group maintains dominate control over everything and everyone.
The track record so far since the popular world wide internet started is that if a popular social media platform is controlled by one group, one company or even one person, it will eventually turn into a tool of monetization and control and it will eventually degrade and dissolve.
The only difference this time is Bluesky is supposedly built on open source software, which is true … but the whole platform and system is corned, controlled and managed by only one company and one group.
Open AI changed to a for profit company in a heartbeat and these folks can too.
More worrying is who owns them and their funding sources.
