Jay Graber takes a bold stand, positioning Bluesky as the antidote to billionaire influence in social media. Could this reshape the future of online platforms?
As the battle for what a certain billionaire claimed is “the world’s town hall” heats up. Many thought that it might be Truth Social that may have been the one to provide some form of competition to the single-letter social media platform.
Sadly, even Meta’s threads were no match for the behemoth that was X. Unfortunately, as many of us found out, Truth Social was merely a political Patsy used to allow the now president-elect Donald Trump to throw tantrums and spell words the only way he knows how.
However, a shining light piercing through the dark clouds of unsolicited nudity, hate speech and vortex of shock and thoughtless hot takes that crowd our once beloved town hall known as “X” comes a literal Bluesky shining through the darkness, as a breath of fresh air.
Bluesky originated in 2019 as an internal project at Twitter during Jack Dorsey’s second tenure as CEO and became an independent public benefit corporation in 2022. In May of this year, Dorsey announced his departure from the Bluesky board.
“Back in 2019, Jack envisioned a transformative path for social media, which is why he entrusted me with its development. “We are incredibly grateful for his foundational work, and we remain committed to realizing that vision,” stated Graber, who previously launched Happening, a social network centred around events. “Our goal is to create an open-source social network that empowers users to take control and innovate in ways never before seen in the social media landscape. Our commitment to transparency and user authority sets us apart from existing platforms.”
Graber highlighted that part of Bluesky’s business strategy includes offering subscription services that allow users to access exclusive features. Additionally, she mentioned plans to expand services for third-party developers as part of the startup’s “developer ecosystem.”
While Bluesky is not the immediate threat to X, it is steadily gaining ground on the social media giant. It won’t be long before Elon has a lot of competition on his hands and maybe there will finally be a democritisation of our social media platforms.
Since the presidential election earlier this month, Bluesky has rapidly gained traction, positioning itself as a formidable competitor to Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Threads. However, CEO Jay Graber offers a word of caution for potential buyers: Bluesky is “billionaire proof.”
In a recent interview, Graber explained that Bluesky’s open design empowers users to take their followers with them if they decide to leave the platform, effectively impeding any acquisition attempts. “The concept of being ‘billionaire proof’ is embedded in our design,” Graber stated. “Even if Bluesky were to be acquired or the company was to shut down, everything is open source. Unlike what happened with Twitter, users will always have the option to transition seamlessly without starting over.”
What remains to be seen is how X owner Musk will respond. Given he is one to not shy away from the spotlight, I expect a savvy yet extreme reply to come from the world’s richest man.
Source: CNBC
