Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter founder, has launched the Bluesky Social app and it is now accepting users for beta testing, and is set to launch “soon”. Bluesky is expected to challenge Twitter and other existing social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
Recently, Bluesky announced the roadmap of its decentralised social network protocol, which will be the underlying code behind the app.
Importantly, it says user data will be free from governmental influence and controlled by users rather than commercialised by a corporation, a move that could revolutionise the personal data economy.
The app’s code will allow user account data to be moved from platform to platform. Bluesky users will be able to use their account to log in to any social media account that adopts the new code. So a single account will give them access to all of their favourite social media.
Furthermore, the owners of those applications would not have control over Bluesky users’ data.
In 2021 Dorsey said that blockchain was a way decentralised social networks could implement “open and durable hosting, governance, and even monetisation”.
The crypto-sphere lit up with talk of a Twitter-backed decentralised social media platform, but on a closer look, the tech behind the new development will not sit on top of a blockchain.
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber tweeted: “I’m confident in our decision to not put social media content on a blockchain.”
She added: “It’s blockchain optional and blockchain agnostic. I personally wouldn’t build a system that backs up your posts on-chain.”
The development team described the app as a “protocol for large-scale distributed social applications that will allow for account portability, algorithmic choice, interoperability, and performance”.
In May 2022, Twitter co-founder Dorsey stepped down as CEO of the social media platform he co-founded in 2006. He said Bluesky Social will be “a competitor to any company trying to own the underlying fundamentals for social media or the data of the people using it”.
