BlueSky and Its Open Source Vision for Social Networking

Social networks have proliferated and they are at the center of much of our modern discourse. They can provide a level of sharing and learning that is not easily matched. Their asynchronous communication means that users do not have to be online at the same time. I joined Twitter in 2008 at the behest of the NYSCATE conference where I was presenting that year. I used it sparingly at first not knowing exactly how or what to share but over time I became a prolific user of the platform and the Twitterverse became integral to my pursuit of lifelong learning. Later when I started writing for Opensource.com it became a way to share our article for a wider audience.

That experience worked quite well for a while but we learned at a community conference in 2018 that what we were sharing wasn’t getting the traction it used to get as the medium was becoming increasingly controlled by algorithms that didn’t allow us to share our posts as we had. I don’t give up easily but in 2022 I began to move away from the Twitterverse and begin to explore Mastodon. It was a new gig and it took some time to learn how to share and find others who were open source nerds like me.

Then a new star emerged in the social media constellation when public signups for BlueSky began in February 2024. BlueSky was launched by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. BlueSky embraces decentralization, giving users more control over their data and interactions. This approach fosters greater privcacy and security while encouraging a diverse and vibrant community. BlueSky is deeply rooted in open source principles. The platform runs on the AT protocol which is open source and allows for decentralized social networking. The AT protocol does not connect with ActivityPub which is the protocol that Mastodon and the rest of the Fediverse runs on. BlueSky users can post three hundred character ‘skeets’ which are what user shares are called. Mastodon users are used to five hundred character shares which are called ‘toots.’

Regardless of whether you are skeeting or tooting there is a great deal to celebrate with BlueSky. I signed up yesterday and it’s been great. The signup process is easy and there is a friendly algorithm to based on the people you follow and the ‘skeets’ you like. I have found it easy to connect with open source folks I have followed on the other platforms too. Though the platform is decentralized I have found following folks I know was much easier than following Mastdon users. According to ZDNet BlueSky currently has about 16.7 million users. You can follow the Linux Foundation, Fedora Linux, Linux Mint, David Both, All Things Open and many others. Happy skeeting!