As the landscape of social media sites shifts, rising and falling like the fortunes of a 19th-century gold rush town, a massive earthquake has struck. And it’s not enough that Twitter/X (now run by Elon apparently as ‘the absolutely worst steward’ for the culmination of human misery that is Twitter/X, according to former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey) is losing users because of the massive shake-up it has embraced in its ‘blocking’ feature (a move that has unleashed a hornets’ nest of discontent). Enter a new social media institution: Bluesky. Given the exodus from Twitter/X, Bluesky has experienced an unprecedented surge in new ‘digital homesteaders’.
X’s latest policy revision essentially castrates the block feature, leaving users more vulnerable than ever before. More than just a bulwark against trolls, the fact that a blocked user was prevented from interacting with their posts was a kind of security now lost, something that people strongly criticised for lowering the level of safety for users. This unsettling shift has become a flashlight, telling users to get up and move out.
Step forward Bluesky, which has seized the moment to show how speed, user-centric policy and a careful handling of tech can power massive growth. A public benefit corporation, Bluesky distinguishes itself in one key way: decentralisation. Decentralisation isn’t just a technical feature for Bluesky: it’s a value proposition for users who want their autonomy and privacy respected.
Spreading online, the news of the polarising flip sparked not a ripple, but a tsunami. In the 24 hours following the announcement, Bluesky said that it saw half a million more people joining. And, for a company that has been growing steadily as an alternative to X (and its ever louder examples of putting profits before people), Bluesky has seen a surge of sign-ups whenever X does anything questionable. For each X-related user that quits X, Bluesky gains millions of new members.
But as X struggles to find its identity under Musk’s leadership, Bluesky is quickly establishing itself as a niche. More than mere numbers, the explosion in Bluesky’s user base represents a story: a search for a safe space in social media where users are heard and respected. It is not only a matter of numbers: it is a story of digital sovereignty, of wanting a place that truly listens.
The power of Bluesky’s identity as a public benefit corporation can’t be overstated. This isn’t just symbolic; it means that policies and development are guided by this stance, that the company exists for users’ interests above all else. From the tug-of-war between a centralised, curated experience and a decentralised, democratic one, Bluesky is mounting a powerful argument for the latter – and attracting the users who want some control over their digital lives.
So what’s next for Bluesky? With each surge, it doesn’t just challenge the status quo: it reshapes what users can expect from a social network. X is thinking dozens of moves ahead in chess. Bluesky is laying the groundwork for what could, ultimately, usurp centralised social media’s primacy – and, with REPLs, Web5 and embeddable feeds, might just prove to be more predictive than even X could have dreamed.
A surge like Bluesky’s illuminates the digital zeitgeist in an important way. Beyond a simple traffic surge, like a spike in numbers, a surge is a movement, a reaction to industry practices that users see as invasive or unjust. It also bears out a need for platforms that aren’t just for users, they’re with users: platforms whose ownership model and governance structures align with the values and goals of their userbase.
It’s a watershed moment in the history of web culture, and the heave towards Bluesky is a vote with our digital feet. Users are jumping ship from the old guard in favour of places that take them more seriously as agents. The only question is: will the surge be a blip, or is it the wave of the future?
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