As I write these lines, Bluesky will soon cross the 21 million user mark. This is an important symbolic milestone for X’s competing social network (Twitter). The great migration away from Elon Musk’s platform therefore seems to be becoming a reality.
But landing on this service and using it professionally is not necessarily easy and imposed a real discipline on me. The use of tools and certain tips that I am going to present to you allowed me to take the plunge.
Why leave Twitter?
The reasons to flee X are quite numerous and I have been thinking about it for several months now. Since its takeover by Elon Musk, the social network has in fact profoundly weakened its fight against disinformation.
Worse, the removal of account authentication and the prevalence given to Premium subscribers have further accentuated misleading content and fake news. The billionaire also made a habit of sharing false information on his account. He regularly declares war on the media and stubbornly refuses to acknowledge indisputable facts while propagating certain erroneous “alternative truths” in the style of Donald Trump.
There is no longer any question for me of endorsing such practices and remarks by my presence and my participation. Note also that the reduction of moderation teams and the reestablishment of certain user accounts located to the right of the extreme right have led to an increase in hate speech on this social network.
On a personal note, an advertisement offered on my news feed for a movement often considered as a sect whose name I will not name ended up convincing me to change my mind.
Back to Bluesky
Last weekend and after ten months of absence following a first attempt, I reconnected to Bluesky, the architecture of which is very similar to its competitor. One of the main obstacles to using the platform is finding your subscribers and the accounts that you have become accustomed to reading on Twitter.
I used the tool Sky Follower Bridge which allows you to find the profiles that you follow on X. In addition to this tip, I also had to manually recreate the lists of sources that I had created to follow the themes that interest me. You just have to be patient, but there is nothing insurmountable. Another tip I can give you is to delete your X app on the phone and replace it with the Bluesky one to mark the break.
What Bluesky is still missing
Of course, not everything is perfect on this platform, even if its decentralized aspect offers certain guarantees. For example, you maintain control over your personal data and you can theoretically migrate to an alternative network or server when the time comes, provided that the protocol used, AT Protocol, is used by other actors.
You also retain control of the algorithm. In particular, you can opt for a feed based solely on the people you follow. This is also possible on X, even if the latter does everything to direct us towards its in-house algorithm which favors polarizing content.
I also experienced some frustrations using Bluesky. There are a few accounts that are still missing, even if a good number of French-speaking Internet users are starting to take the plunge. In terms of functionality, I regret the absence of bookmarks to reread a thread or access a link later.
I would also like to have the possibility to receive notifications in the event that certain relevant profiles publish information. Note that I went through the platform Blue Deck which is a kind of TweetDeck and which should make you happy.
Goodbye X?
It is of course impossible to predict the future, but a powerful movement is well underway. Large communities are formed and Internet users appreciate the deep interactions that take place there. As far as I am concerned, the coming weeks will be essential, and, if the trend continues, or even increases, I will no longer have any valid reason to return to Twitter.
But, if it grows too quickly, Bluesky will also have to manage the problems previously encountered by its competitors. What about moderation on a platform that hosts several tens or hundreds of millions of users? Won’t the need for funding push the service’s leaders to betray their lofty promises? We must all keep a real distance and not place too much hope in this social network under construction. Otherwise, there will be a disillusioning tomorrow.
