By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 24th, 2024
Company’s CEO Graber confirms that Bluesky currently has about 1.6 million monthly users and about 25,000 custom feeds.
After nearly a year in its testing phase, the Bluesky app, an acclaimed X (formerly Twitter) rival, has now opened to the public. The micro-blogging platform is funded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and quickly rose to fame when it amassed nearly three million users even while still in private beta.
With the latest update, however, anyone who wishes to do so may now join the platform.
Bluesky Keen to Take the Spotlight
Without a doubt, Bluesky had momentum when it first launched last year. However, it currently faces a challenge as to how not to be left behind by the likes of Meta’s Threads or ActivityPub’s Mastodon, another decentralized protocol. For clarity, Threads currently boasts about 130 million monthly active users, while Mastodon has about 1.8 million.
So, it might be understandable that Bluesky’s decision to make its platform public aligns with its readiness to have its moment in the spotlight again. That is especially true if it hopes to challenge Twitter’s reign.
The platform says it is removing its “invite-only” system immediately. Additionally, it says it will also begin to allow outside developers to host their servers on its underlying AT Protocol. However, that will start sometime later in the month.
Interestingly, the AT Protocol is a decentralized infrastructure that is specifically designed to rival ActivityPub’s plans with Mastodon. This means that Bluesky users will be able to access experiences that aren’t controlled by the company. That is, they will be able to bring their profiles with them to rival apps on the network.
Looking Ahead
Speaking about the decision to make the platform public, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber says the platform is focused on two things. That is decentralization and improving user experience, with neither being prioritized over the other. Graber had earlier hinted at this on a panel last month. The American software engineer said in a part statement:
“People aren’t just in it for the decentralization and abstract ideas. They’re in it for having fun and having a good time here.”
According to Graber, the AT Protocol will be rolled out gradually over the coming days. That is to ensure that issues don’t arise overnight. However, she also confirmed that the Bluesky company plans to make money in various ways, including charging users for additional features in its app. It also plans to take a share from purchases of things like custom feeds.
As of publication, Graber confirms that Bluesky currently has about 1.6 million monthly users and about 25,000 custom feeds. However, these figures are set to change now that users don’t need an invite to join the platform. Hopefully, the new registrations will translate to more monthly active usage for Bluesky.
