Ah, social media, for better or worse. My usage of it waxes and wanes; moderation is good. Since Twitter died, other platforms have stepped in: Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky. The latter isn’t new, but it recently surged, so I’ve been trying it again.
Bluesky seems to have good things going for it. The most striking trait to me is how similar it looks and feels to Twitter. The UI/UX is minimal, clean, and very nice overall. In a word, it’s inviting.
I don’t know if the kind of federation Bluesky has is ideal or what it may mean down the road. But its current feature set otherwise seems good. I like the “Starter Packs” to help you follow a topic and discover other profiles.
About the surge in users, I noticed today that the official PlayStation profile is now there. Xbox is already onboard. Now we just need Nintendo.
For me, it’s official public-facing accounts like these that I miss on social media like Mastodon. While it has a lot of great things about it, Mastodon hasn’t caught on with companies like Twitter had and like Bluesky seems to be doing.
To keep tabs on current user growth rate at Bluesky, here’s a cool website counter.
Threads, meanwhile, is…okay? It mostly seems like engagement bait though, not like real people are hanging out or sharing real-time info. Its federation ambitions seem to have stalled at some half-way point. And it’s yet another Zuckerberg production — there’s just too many. Plus I’m more invested in, and get more out of, Mastodon in comparison.
Bluesky seems like it could rise above Threads though, so I’ll watch to see what happens. I still consider Mastodon my main social media place, within the larger context of the blogosphere and — ahem — the internet. Yet if you’re on Bluesky, look me up.
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