Bluesky, which has ~55,000 users, feels absolutely wild, highlighted by the CEO pleading to stop “skeets” and increasingly weird struggles over norms and vibes
Early last week, barely anyone had heard of Bluesky. On Wednesday, it was just one of many alternatives vying …
The VergeSarah Jeong
Context & Ripple Effects
Bluesky’s early influx had already brought prominent users and a playful “skeeting” vocabulary into a small, invite-only network. This report captures the less visible consequence: a platform’s culture is being negotiated in public before its product and governance are mature.
The subsequent decision to limit growth rather than accommodate heads of state underscores why these early norm disputes mattered. Later user migration tied to changes at X shows that alternatives can face abrupt demand shocks, not only gradual community building.
First-order effects
Bluesky’s leadership and early users must decide which behaviors and language are acceptable, making informal culture an immediate operating issue rather than a side conversation.
A network of roughly 55,000 users faces a sharper trade-off between preserving its early social atmosphere and welcoming the users driving its influx.
Second-order effects
Growth controls and clearer participation rules become more likely as Bluesky tries to prevent a small beta community from being overwhelmed—a concern reflected in its later effort to control who the service could accommodate.
Rival social platforms can compete not just on features but on perceived community safety and tone; a sudden alternative-platform influx makes those norms a user-acquisition variable.
Third-order effects
If decentralized or emerging social networks keep attracting users during incumbent-platform controversies, moderation, identity, and community-governance design will become core competitive infrastructure, not merely policy enforcement.
The pattern points to social-platform switching being constrained by more than network effects: users also evaluate whether a destination can establish credible norms while it scales.
The trend: Social-network alternatives are increasingly tested by whether their governance and culture can scale as quickly as migration-driven user demand.
Wild how twitter blue prioritization has completely changed how I interact with the site. I don't even bother scrolling through replies anymore. QTs are better because they have no prioritization. As soon as Bluesky goes public and fixes video, I'm out.
it's official, adult content will be reach-limited/deboosted. bluesky strangled itself in the crib. porn creators are drivers of growth, and you just showed them your platform is hostile to their interests. https://twitter.com/...
Blue Sky/ Twitter feels very America privileged people excited that they can flee to safety provided by access With most of the information and content coming from where they are fleeing And a solid chunk of us in the middle getting increasingly nervous/ resigned
I have said for years the only thing you really own on the internet is a domain name, and if you can maintain the discipline and financials, you need to center your identity on it. BlueSky makes it very clear DNS is a critical arbiter. Buy your domain. Preferably .com if you can.
BlueSky is sooo much nicer. This is how a platform should be run! Decent. Please all join when the opportunity arises. It's identical to Twitter bar Elton Moose and the people he attracts. As soon as I get some invites (or ‘lifeboats’ as they're being called) will share 👍🌟 https:…
TL;DR - Bluesky is an *incomplete* beta. It's fun, and the community is great, but the company has a HUGE amount of important (and difficult) work to do before they can be a viable global competitor to Twitter. By the time they're ready, the hype may have died off.
Ringleader AOC is now openly encouraging harassment of Conservatives on Bluesky “From the research, there's no evidence of that.” The Ruby Files show that this statement is false. https://twitter.com/...
I also think this is why you actually see some prominent people spending time on Bluesky, despite having a fraction of their followings here. Just typing out a post and hitting send is like 90% of the value that the real-heads really get out of it. Even if hardly anyone sees.
Bluesky is so funny because it's all insane shitposters then you'll get a tech guy like this who accidentally stumbles in and the collision is hilarious https://twitter.com/...
So basically even if you are specifically online to find sexy people or topics, now bluesky completely blocks them from the “for you” tab? That is.. worse than Twitter.. right? Censorship-wise
1/ I think that one of the main reasons Bluesky keeps trending here and people keep looking by the tens—and hundreds—of thousands for invites to Bluesky is that a comprehensive report about it from someone who has spent time there has not yet been issued. That changes right now.
a fun fact about the block feature on blue sky is that your blocks will be public. everyone's will be. we will know who is blocking who lmao https://twitter.com/...
Very funny that rightoids are crying they can't get on Bluesky or are being banned. Kind of gives away the game of their whole deal being wanting to be around people who don't want to be around them
it's a pleasing coincidence that bluesky exploded around May 1st because the posting energy is definitely one of may day revels and frolics https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Hearing stories about BlueSky invites being sold on Ebay for big sums. I'm on the app and honestly, all you need to know rn is that it's similar to Twitter. This from @verge kinda sums up early-adopter chaos. Save your pennies & get on it when it opens up https://www.theverge.com…
wrote about bluesky, black twitter, & sex work if bluesky is the next twitter, it needs to be better than twitter - and safer for the marginalized communities that are shaping the platform's culture (also got the line “tiddies on the skyline” published) https://techcrunch.com/...