38 votes

How Bluesky, the rival of Elon Musk’s X, is seizing the moment

28 comments

  1. [5]
    boredop
    Link
    I work at a news organization, and at least for now there seems to be a lot more excitement for Bluesky among my colleagues than than there ever was for Mastodon. That alone makes me think Bluesky...

    I work at a news organization, and at least for now there seems to be a lot more excitement for Bluesky among my colleagues than than there ever was for Mastodon. That alone makes me think Bluesky at least has a puncher's chance.

    I still prefer Mastodon. My first impression of Bluesky is that it looks and feels like Twitter used to, and after two years off of Twitter that feels like the past, not the future. After I left the Twitter culture behind I did not miss it very much. But I'm still down with anything that gets people off of Twitter/X.

    20 votes
    1. [3]
      0xSim
      Link Parent
      I'm (relatively) active on Mastodon, but have a Bluesky account for all the non-tech stuff. As much as I like Mastodon and the Fediverse, Bluesky is a better product for the masses. Mastodon does...

      I'm (relatively) active on Mastodon, but have a Bluesky account for all the non-tech stuff. As much as I like Mastodon and the Fediverse, Bluesky is a better product for the masses. Mastodon does its job, ActivityPub makes it resistant to enshittification, but it's nothing more than a utilitarian social network. On the other hand, Bluesky feels fun.

      There's a variety of reasons for that difference, but IMO it boils down to the fact that open-source projects aren't fun first. They exist to solve an issue, they're inherently utilitarian first. A VC-backed product like Bluesky must be fun first to attract users and make money. And it works.

      And that's ok, I say that without judgement. Most of the fun things I was getting from Twitter (shitposters, videogames, art, ...) are now available on Bluesky. When Bluesky becomes enshittified, I will find these things elsewhere, just as I've been doing those last 2 years.

      11 votes
      1. boredop
        Link Parent
        Luckily for me, I'm not the masses. I'm just me! ;-)

        Bluesky is a better product for the masses.

        Luckily for me, I'm not the masses. I'm just me! ;-)

        3 votes
      2. public
        Link Parent
        I agree that Mastodon isn't fun, but have a sharp disagreement as to the reason. IMO, it's primarily an existing userbase problem, not a technical issue. Perhaps there is something to be said for...

        I agree that Mastodon isn't fun, but have a sharp disagreement as to the reason. IMO, it's primarily an existing userbase problem, not a technical issue. Perhaps there is something to be said for the three-column interface scaring away the newcomers. If that's the case, the network is better off without them.

        However, the big issue is that the new website smell had worn off by late 2018 and none of the later migrations had significantly disrupted the meta conversations. Perhaps the second Trump term will make things fun again over there, as the terminal feeling of "shit's boring, yo" set in right around when Biden took over. I'm doubtful.

        1 vote
    2. Fiachra
      Link Parent
      Yeah I agree. My ideal outcome would be for the users to de-consolidate onto multiple non-corporate-run platforms, but if it breaks Musk's ability to influence public opinion I'll take "Twitter...

      Yeah I agree. My ideal outcome would be for the users to de-consolidate onto multiple non-corporate-run platforms, but if it breaks Musk's ability to influence public opinion I'll take "Twitter minus three years" for now.

      1 vote
  2. [2]
    DefinitelyNotAFae
    Link
    I enjoy Bluesky a lot, though the influx needs to chill a bit as my feed's gotten less of the folks I follow and more noise. I have a lot of different feeds though so I may just need to adjust my...

    I enjoy Bluesky a lot, though the influx needs to chill a bit as my feed's gotten less of the folks I follow and more noise. I have a lot of different feeds though so I may just need to adjust my settings.

    18 votes
    1. drrlvn
      Link Parent
      If only the feeds could remember where you left off, or at the very least not scroll to the very top when they refresh. As it is it's very hard to keep up unless you follow very few people or use...

      If only the feeds could remember where you left off, or at the very least not scroll to the very top when they refresh. As it is it's very hard to keep up unless you follow very few people or use a really small feed.

      3 votes
  3. [12]
    RNG
    Link
    Bluesky seems to be just liberal Twitter. I cannot find the non-political stuff I like on Bluesky.

    Bluesky seems to be just liberal Twitter. I cannot find the non-political stuff I like on Bluesky.

    8 votes
    1. [7]
      DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      There are a bunch of "starter packs" of folks you can follow that you can find for all sorts of different topics, science, law, furries. Can I point you in a starter pack direction?

      There are a bunch of "starter packs" of folks you can follow that you can find for all sorts of different topics, science, law, furries. Can I point you in a starter pack direction?

      13 votes
      1. RNG
        Link Parent
        Do you have any recommendations for these interests: Philosophy (analytic, religion, mind, knowledge, etc) Binary analysis Pokemon Homebrewing Motorcycling General interest stuff I don't believe...

        Do you have any recommendations for these interests:

        • Philosophy (analytic, religion, mind, knowledge, etc)
        • Binary analysis
        • Pokemon
        • Homebrewing
        • Motorcycling
        • General interest stuff

        I don't believe in getting political news or information from a short-form text site.

        5 votes
      2. [2]
        Requirement
        Link Parent
        While I think starter packs are a good idea in theory, the practical implementation of them seems pretty lacking. While I haven't really messed about with them too much, it has a feeling of a...

        While I think starter packs are a good idea in theory, the practical implementation of them seems pretty lacking. While I haven't really messed about with them too much, it has a feeling of a "popular kids list" but somehow, even more inscrutable than middleschool lunch table hierarchy. Who are these people? Who is the person making the specific list? Why are the lists titled in mostly unhelpful ways? Again, while they are good in theory, it feels like the mountain of knowledge needed to make sense of them is a real uphill battle. As I was looking at them the other day, I also noticed that they don't seem particularly used either, based on sorting by used. Also, I can't even find the list of starter packs right now. I logged into bluesky thinking that they'd be prominently displayed somewhere but the only starterpacks tab I can find is for lists that I have made (none). Perhaps they would be used more if it was possible for a regular ol' dummy like myself to find them.

        3 votes
        1. DefinitelyNotAFae
          Link Parent
          They are definitely user created and thus your mileage may vary. Same with labelers or block/mute lists which I use only to flag folks as a start for the same reason. I've found them most often by...

          They are definitely user created and thus your mileage may vary. Same with labelers or block/mute lists which I use only to flag folks as a start for the same reason.

          I've found them most often by searching for topics, like higher education or spec fic authors that I'm interested in and from folks I start following from there.

          Here's a handy directory off site
          https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all

          Which you also find if you type starter packs into the search so that's handy.

          I find it so much more intuitive than Mastodon and so much less toxic than Twitter that I don't mind the hoops. I'm in the first million users so while that's not really "old" in the scheme of things I've been around for a bit to feel comfortable there.

          6 votes
      3. [3]
        sparksbet
        Link Parent
        okay wait can you point me in some starter pack directions? I've basically just followed some breadtube folks so far, but since we're basically twins I suspect we'll have plenty of overlap I can...

        okay wait can you point me in some starter pack directions? I've basically just followed some breadtube folks so far, but since we're basically twins I suspect we'll have plenty of overlap I can take advantage of.

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          DefinitelyNotAFae
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          So I use starter packs less than feeds because then I'm not following everyone but I can go through the feed of those folks whenever I want and follow them if I like. Also the other trick is to...

          So I use starter packs less than feeds because then I'm not following everyone but I can go through the feed of those folks whenever I want and follow them if I like. Also the other trick is to search for topic+sky

          Useful feeds:
          Gift links for articles - like a news feed but explicitly gift links.
          LawSky

          Indigisky

          Starter packs (give me some more topic areas and I can grab more)
          SFF authors
          ADHD creators

          And fwiw, this is my handle there. I don't post often

          3 votes
          1. guissmo
            Link Parent
            How about tech or software dev? How does one even find starter packs? Edit: Never mind I found your other comment

            How about tech or software dev? How does one even find starter packs?

            Edit: Never mind I found your other comment

    2. shinigami
      Link Parent
      Definitely a second vote for finding BlueSky Starter Packs for your hobbies. I didn't have the same experience you did, even though I was expecting it. It might be because I started following...

      Definitely a second vote for finding BlueSky Starter Packs for your hobbies.

      I didn't have the same experience you did, even though I was expecting it. It might be because I started following people in my hobby spaces first, and that's what trained their discovery algorithm for me.

      With the big migration from Twitter, I do see more political posts now, but it's few and far between, and comes from real people, instead of some Right-Wing ad masquerading as a tweet.

      7 votes
    3. [3]
      sparksbet
      Link Parent
      The "discover" feed does feel like that to me, but it's better once you find some people to follow. I just looked for people I remembered from Twitter personally, but there are apparently "starter...

      The "discover" feed does feel like that to me, but it's better once you find some people to follow. I just looked for people I remembered from Twitter personally, but there are apparently "starter packs" out there for people. You can change the order of feeds so that it defaults to people you follow rather than their "discover" feed which I've done, and there are lots of topic-specific custom feeds you can add. Finding people who post about your hobbies or other topics you're interested in is gonna be a big factor on any site like this.

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        One of my favorite custom feeds is the 📌 feed If you reply to a skeet with a 📌 it'll go to this custom feed to save it for later.

        One of my favorite custom feeds is the 📌 feed

        If you reply to a skeet with a 📌 it'll go to this custom feed to save it for later.

        1 vote
  4. KapteinB
    Link
    I'm not particularly interested in Bluesky, since I never really understood the appeal of Twitter, but I do regularly check what's new on Linklonk, and they use Bluesky as one of their sources, so...

    I'm not particularly interested in Bluesky, since I never really understood the appeal of Twitter, but I do regularly check what's new on Linklonk, and they use Bluesky as one of their sources, so more activity there benefits me as well.

    5 votes
  5. devilized
    Link
    I've been enjoying Bluesky and have been surprised to see some of the people who have been moving over. I did try Mastodon a while back but it was more effort than I really cared to put into...

    I've been enjoying Bluesky and have been surprised to see some of the people who have been moving over. I did try Mastodon a while back but it was more effort than I really cared to put into social media.

    3 votes
  6. Thrabalen
    Link
    I stuck it out with Twitter until they banned free users from Tweetdeck, because the endlessly scrolling update was a hellscape for me. Only recently did I go to Bluesky (right at the election,...

    I stuck it out with Twitter until they banned free users from Tweetdeck, because the endlessly scrolling update was a hellscape for me. Only recently did I go to Bluesky (right at the election, but before it got suddenly massively plumped.) My take? It does remind me of older Twitter, but in a good nostalgic way. But also in a "not getting harassed" way. It's been incredibly friendly, and while I left Twitter over a year ago without looking back, I discovered again how much I missed the "buckshot of opinions" effect.

    That is to say, I you used Twitter before Manchild acquired it, you know roughly how Bluesky works. If you never liked Twitter, you won't really like Bluesky (unless the toxicity is why you didn't like it, and I totally get that.)

    2 votes
  7. benpocalypse
    Link
    I thought John Mastodon was Elon's enemy?

    I thought John Mastodon was Elon's enemy?

    1 vote
  8. [3]
    moocow1452
    Link
    Is there an application like Fritter or a viewer of yore that would let me aggregate people I want to follow on Bluesky without commiting to the ecosystem? I know Openvibe lets me combine...

    Is there an application like Fritter or a viewer of yore that would let me aggregate people I want to follow on Bluesky without commiting to the ecosystem? I know Openvibe lets me combine timelines and see who follows what where if I really wanted to put some time into it, but I figured if I wanted to do this minimally, a viewer app might be a good fit. Or should I just bite the bullet, and start up an account?

    1 vote
    1. BitsMcBytes
      Link Parent
      In theory this is meant to be possible as Bluesky was meant to be decentralized but not sure how much they've opened things up in practice. Fun fact, one of the core creators of Bluesky (Paul) is...

      In theory this is meant to be possible as Bluesky was meant to be decentralized but not sure how much they've opened things up in practice.

      Fun fact, one of the core creators of Bluesky (Paul) is also the creator of Fritter.
      https://github.com/beakerbrowser/fritter

      1 vote
  9. Eji1700
    Link
    It's amazing to me how awful twitters default interface is, and yet it seems that the only alternatives are copying it. I get why, but god it's not even hard for me to not use twitter and friends....

    It's amazing to me how awful twitters default interface is, and yet it seems that the only alternatives are copying it. I get why, but god it's not even hard for me to not use twitter and friends. It's such a shit interface for conveying any information.

    1 vote