Ah, X. Once upon a time, Twitter was a social network that served as a bastion of hope. It wasn’t algorithm-crazy like Facebook, and there was plenty of engagement to go around.
Also: 7 things to know about Bluesky before you join – and why you should
But something happened along the way, and it devolved into a cesspool that was shifting towards intolerability.
I’d been on Twitter since the beginning and enjoyed the platform far more than any other social network. But when the change hit, I found myself not wanting to log in.
And then the skies parted and became blue again.
I’m talking Bluesky — a new social platform originally ideated by ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey — which is what X should have strived to be… but didn’t.
How Bluesky is different than Twitter
If you continue reading this, you’ll find that Bluesky is simply a friendlier, happier place. But the difference goes well beyond that. Bluesky is both decentralized and open-source, which is similar to Mastodon. The decentralized nature of Bluesky is why usernames include domains (such as mine – jlwallen.bsky.social). There are two big pluses of Bluesky being decentralized, which are:
- It’s not owned by any one person or corporation.
- It’s less likely to go down.
Another thing that separates Bluesky from X is the lack of ads. On X, I was becoming far too accustomed to seeing more ads than actual posts by actual people. And when I did see a post (or a reply), I had to wonder if it was made by a person or a bot. That is not the case with Bluesky. I’ve yet to see a single ad on Bluesky. Whether or not that continues to be true, only time will tell. But for now, Bluesky is all people, all day.
Also: 8 Bluesky tips every new user should know
One of the big questions regarding social networking is engagement. When you post something, do people respond, or does that post collect dust and wither? That was slowly becoming the case on X. I would see countless posts fly by with zero interaction among people. On Bluesky, it’s a rare occasion that I see a post without at least one reply. And given that so many people on the platform are having to rebuild a following slowly, that’s an impressive feat.
There’s also no algorithmic bias under the hood that believes it knows what you want to see better than you. What’s infuriating about social networks that so heavily depend on algorithms to populate feeds is that they are so often wrong. I’ve yet to hop onto any social network and see an algorithmic suggestion that makes me think, “Wow, the tech got it right this time.” It’s always, “Why am I seeing this?” On Bluesky, that is not a concern.
All of this makes Bluesky feel far more social than a platform run by a company looking to monetize every aspect.
How it all began
When Bluesky was first announced, I, like everyone else, was curious. It took me a while to get an invite for the new social network, but after creating an account, I realized it was mobile-only, which was a big turn-off for me. I spend exponentially more time at a desktop than on a phone, so I determined that my skies wouldn’t be blue for long.
Also: How to use Bluesky starter packs to find greener social media pastures
Then, the developers released a web version of the platform. I hopped back on and started posting. I had very few followers and wasn’t following many, so it felt as though I’d left one void just to hop onto another (and no one loves screaming into a void).
Those early stages of my interaction with Bluesky made me believe the platform wouldn’t last. There was zero engagement and few people, which is not exactly a recipe for success on a social platform. Those two issues still had me skeptical, but I was willing to keep trying.
Then, after a few policy changes, something bigger happened.
Also: Threads will show you more from accounts you follow now – like Bluesky already does
Soon after November 5, 2024, Bluesky took off, gaining millions of new followers daily. The platform was suddenly viable, and everyone knew it.
When word got out about Bluesky, people either set their X accounts to private or deleted them altogether and migrated to the new platform. X was bleeding users at a rate that should spell doom for what was once a great social network.
Now that I’ve been regularly using Bluesky, here are my takeaways on the platform.
It’s all about positivity
This is the big one for me. Where X has become a minefield of negativity, divisiveness, and derision, Bluesky is positive, inclusive, and supportive. People really seem to care about one another.
Also: How to migrate from X to Bluesky without losing your followers
I’m not going to go out on a limb and say that Bluesky has changed the very fabric of society because it hasn’t. What Bluesky has done, however, is bring millions of people together who had grown tired of how ugly the X environment had become and were happy to land in a place that seemed to be genuinely friendlier.
My last few weeks on X had me ducking and dodging all of the hatred, and my first few weeks on Bluesky had me enjoying the love. Although I have come across some accounts that look suspect or spammy, for the most part, I’ve only interacted with people who seemed to have good intentions.
I do love me some positivity and kindness, and I believe that’s where Bluesky lives at the moment. That could change, of course, but hopefully the ethos will remain — especially as other approaches to social networks crop up, too.
Growth is slow-going
I had hoped gathering a decent-sized following on the new platform would be pretty easy. Although my collection of X followers never breached the 10k mark, I felt confident that could happen on Bluesky.
Unfortunately, it looks like it will be a slow, steady slog to gather a following. But that’s what happens when you’re relatively unknown. Unlike the celebs who scoop up followers like grains of sand in a shovel, we mere mortals have been given a pair of chopsticks and are expected to pick up those grains of sand one at a time.
Fortunately, starter packs help you find new people to follow in batches, making expanding your reach much easier.
But even with very few followers, I’ve found Bluesky to be far more engaging than X. Because there is no algorithm in the background to suggest to users what they should see, if you follow someone, you’ll see what they post, which makes it exponentially easier to engage. Even better, there’s been very little engagement with trolls. To date, I’ve only experienced one troll on Bluesky and easily blocked that person.
Also: I tried replacing Twitter with Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon: Here’s what I found
In the end, Bluesky has been a refreshing change from what X became. It’s almost as though all of the good that once drove Twitter crept out under cover of night and gathered together in a new hideout that will hopefully never be overtaken.
If you’ve been hesitant to leap into bluer skies, trust me when I tell you that you will not regret leaving X. Bluesky is a breath of fresh air. I cannot imagine ever going back to X. At the moment, my X account has been set to private, and my Bluesky account is growing.
If you join Bluesky, you’ll find me at jlwallen.bsky.social. Look me up and help me spread some kindness.
