Here’s a Post That’ s Got Me Thinking

Came across this post via a friend on Mastodon. You can read the whole thing here: https://retro.pizza/@pdsmix/113527799021051600

But here’s some points it made:

• Bluesky isn’t the proper alternative to Twitter/X
• Bluesky’s funding comes from established venture capitalists
• Two of those VCs are Bart and Brad Stephens of Blockchain Capital, a firm that has ties to Steve Bannon
• The original author’s theory is that Blueksy needs to remain beholden to the interests of the powerful – if they can’t milk it for profit, then they will use it to “influence [and] control larger narratives for their personal, political, or financial gain.”

When I first joined Bluesky, it was “under protest” because it had previously had ties to Jack Dorsey. Jack Dorsey has since fled from it, which endears me to the platform, but I do admit at getting the heebies when they reveal where they get their funding from.

Still, I was Team Mastodon for a very long time. I’m still Team Mastodon, I have several accounts. But I’ve seen its limitations. Bluesky – probably because it had enough money to throw at the problem – built an app that welcomes an average user, as opposed to a platform that alienates that same user.

Bluesky will not be the ultimate answer to “how should the web work differently?” A big lesson from this Twitter fallout is that we are not all meant to be in one place, reacting to the same things. It’s a fear that people have had for centuries. What is the Two Minutes’ Hate except for a fear that television was turning us all into mindless vessels of propaganda? It won’t stop with Twitter and it won’t stop with Bluesky.

So I’ll be sad if and when the day comes that it becomes truly not worth the ethical sacrifice to use the platform. Because it means I’ll lose even more of these ephemeral connections.

But the game is to discover enough new possibilities within each framework and carry what you’ve learned to your ultimate destination.

I think in terms of the discourse, it’s a step away from centralized corporate power. You just have to keep traveling and not stop here.