Bluesky is missing an opportunity to explain to people that its network is more than just its own Bluesky social app<\/a>.<\/p>\n In recent weeks, a number of headlines and posts have surfaced questioning whether Bluesky\u2019s growth is declining<\/a>, if the network has become<\/a> too much of a left-leaning echo chamber<\/a>, or if its users lack a sense of humor<\/a>, among other charges. <\/p>\n Investor Mark Cuban, who even financially backed Skylight<\/a>, a video app built on Bluesky\u2019s underlying protocol, AT Proto, complained this week that replies on Bluesky have become too hateful. <\/p>\n \u201cEngagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist,\u201d he wrote in a post on Bluesky<\/a>. That, he said, is \u201cforcing\u201d people to return to X. <\/p>\n The replies on here may not be as racist as Twitter, but they damn sure are hateful. Talk AI: FU, AI sucks go awayTalk Business: Go away Talk Healthcare: Crickets. Engagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist We are forcing posts to X<\/p>\n \u2014 Mark Cuban (@mcuban.bsky.social)<\/a> 2025-06-08T20:18:22.924Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Naturally, X owner Elon Musk and CEO Linda Yaccarino have capitalized on this unrest, with the former posting<\/a> that Bluesky is a \u201cbunch of super judgy hall monitors\u201d and the latter proclaiming<\/a> that X is the \u201ctrue\u201d global town square. <\/p>\n That site is a bunch of super judgy hall monitors<\/p>\n \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 12, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The debate around this topic is not surprising. <\/p>\n Without a more direct push to showcase the wider network of apps built on the open protocol<\/a> that Bluesky\u2019s team spearheaded, it was only a matter of time before the Bluesky brand became pigeon-holed as the liberal and leftist alternative to X. <\/p>\n That characterization of Bluesky, however, is not a complete picture of what the company has been building \u2014 but it could become a stumbling block toward its further growth if not corrected.<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that many of Bluesky\u2019s initial users are those who abandoned X because they were unhappy with its new ownership under Musk and its accompanying right-wing shift. After the November elections in the U.S., Bluesky\u2019s adoption soared<\/a> as X users fled the platform headed by Trump\u2019s biggest<\/a> individual backer. At the time, Bluesky was adding millions of users in rapid succession, climbing from north of 9 million users<\/a> in September to nearly 15 million<\/a> by mid-November and then 20 million just days later.<\/a><\/p>\n That growth continued in the months that followed, as top Democrats like Barack Obama<\/a> and Hillary Clinton<\/a> joined the app. Today, Bluesky has more than 36.5 million<\/a> registered users, its public data indicates. <\/p>\n It follows, then, that users\u2019 conversations around news and politics on Bluesky would help to define the network\u2019s tone as they became the dominant voices. Of course, that can spell trouble for any social network, as partisan apps on both the left, like Telepath<\/a>, and right, like Parler<\/a>, have failed to successfully challenge X.<\/p>\n What\u2019s missing in this current narrative is the fact that Bluesky\u2019s social app is only meant to be one example of what\u2019s possible within the wider AT Proto ecosystem. If you don\u2019t like the tone of the topics trending on Bluesky, you can switch to other apps, change your default feeds, or even build your own social platform using the technology. <\/p>\n Already, people are using the protocol that powers Bluesky to build social experiences for specific groups \u2014 like Blacksky<\/a> is doing for the Black online community or like Gander Social<\/a> is doing for social media users in Canada. <\/p>\n There are also feed builders like Graze<\/a> and those in Surf<\/a> that let you create custom feeds where you can focus on specific content you care about \u2014 like video games or baseball \u2014 and exclude others, like politics. <\/p>\n Built into Bluesky (and other third-party clients) are tools that let you pick your default feed and add others that interest you from a range of topics. If you want to follow a feed devoted to your favorite TV show<\/a> or animal<\/a>, for instance, you can. <\/p>\n In other words, Bluesky is meant to be what you make it, and its content can be consumed in whatever format you prefer best. <\/p>\n In addition to Bluesky itself, the wider network of apps built on the AT Protocol includes<\/a> photo- and video-sharing apps, livestreaming tools, communication apps, blogging apps, music apps, movie and TV recommendation apps, and more.<\/p>\n Other tools also let you combine feeds from Bluesky with other social networks. <\/p>\n Openvibe<\/a>, for instance, can mix together feeds from social networks like Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Nostr. Apps like Surf<\/a> and Tapestry<\/a> offer ways to track posts on open social platforms as well as those published with other open protocols like RSS. This lets the apps pull in content from blogs, news sites, YouTube, and podcasts.<\/p>\n The team at Bluesky may not be the ones directly building these other social experiences and tools, but highlighting and promoting the existence of this wider, connected social network benefits Bluesky\u2019s brand. <\/p>\n It shows that not only is Bluesky more than just a Twitter\/X alternative, it\u2019s just one app in a wider social ecosystem built on open technology \u2014 and that\u2019s bigger than just building another X.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Bluesky is more than its app<\/h2>\n
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