Social networking startup Bluesky is seizing the moment. Amid ongoing moderation issues affecting X rival Instagram Threads, the decentralized X competitor Bluesky has created an account on Meta’s newest platform. In doing so, the startup aims to capitalize on the discussions now taking place on Threads, where a number of users are threatening to leave Threads for Bluesky over this latest set of problems.
On Wednesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri said the company was looking into the network’s moderation issues, but no resolution has yet come about. Nor has Instagram explained what caused people to have their Threads’ posts downranked and blocked, or their accounts removed or falsely flagged as belonging to underage users. However, many suspect the company is relying on AI-powered moderation systems, which are likely misfiring.
As conversations about leaving Threads for Bluesky ramped up, Bluesky set up an account and reached out to Threads users, cheekily writing “Heard people were talking about us … so we created an account to share some more information!”
The company then clarified several key ways Bluesky is different from Threads in terms of moderation. Similar to other social networks, it does employ a moderation team that follows a set of community guidelines. However, Bluesky notes that its team won’t de-rank content if it’s about politics — something that Meta actively chose to avoid ahead of the contentious U.S. election season.
In February, Meta had said it would no longer recommend political content across Threads and Instagram, saying users would only see this content in their feeds if they actively followed political accounts. That decision led to a creator backlash, which saw hundreds signing a letter about Meta’s move, claiming that limiting the reach of such content “endangers the reach of marginalized folks speaking to their own lived experience on Meta’s platforms.”
In addition, Bluesky shared on Threads that its moderation system differs from other social networks as well, as it introduces an “open stackable ecosystem” that allows independent organizations to publish their own moderation tools that users can optionally subscribe to in order to filter their feed to their personal preferences.
The company also touted its support for open source code, account portability, and algorithmic choice and shared one of its starter packs (account suggestions of who to follow).
Whether the proposed exodus from Threads will actually have a significant impact on either social network remains to be seen. Threads may address the moderation problems well before any departures reach a critical mass. And although Threads users may create accounts on Bluesky to kick the tires, they may not choose to stay given that the network’s size remains dwarfed by Threads. The former has now topped 10.7 million users, but Threads now sees over 200 million active users on a monthly basis.
Others, meanwhile, may choose to stay on Threads regardless of the current problems. For some, that’s because they remain bitter about how long Bluesky remained an invite-only social network, joking about how they’re still waiting for their invitation.
Even if Bluesky isn’t able to direct a sizable number of Threads users to its platform, as it did when X was banned in Brazil, it will still benefit from the user feedback it’s collecting. For instance, among the hundreds of replies it’s receiving, people are pointing out the need for better threading on Bluesky’s app as well as connectivity with ActivityPub, the protocol powering Mastodon and soon, Threads, once it fully federates.
Bluesky responded by saying, “We’re reading all the feedback you have and taking notes,” alongside a link to download its app.
