The social networking platform Bluesky became a popular alternative to X, positioning itself as a hub for personalized (usually niche) of online communities. CEO Jay Graber said the same focus on customization also allowed Bruinsky users to escape the echo chamber that dominated traditional social media.
“You can really be in the silo in the corner you want to get into,” Grabbe said in a Web Summit speech in Vancouver yesterday (May 27). Still, features such as custom feeds and blues boot packaging (list of users centered on specific interests) can also encourage user branches. Graber notes that she has explored communities surrounding fountain pens, medical research and even commodity trading.
Bluesky users can choose to build a schedule that is completely random or intentionally populates different perspectives. In one example, an early adopter conducted an experiment by randomly classifying users as teams and creating separate feeds to showcase posts for each group.
How to operate a website with 35 million users with just 25 people
Despite its rapid expansion, Blues is a lean team of just 25 employees who, in part, manage the demand for the up-and-coming social media platform through strategic delegations. Earlier this year, the company launched a verification system for well-known accounts, but it also introduced a “trusted validator” program that allows approved organizations such as the New York Times to verify users themselves. “You can have a system that builds more points of trust, not just the systems we have as a company,” Graber said.
Another key difference between Bluesky and its competitors is its position against traditional advertising. Instead, the company plans to profit from the marketplace of related services and ultimately subscribers. Its decentralized open source structure (which allows users to carry data with you if they are not satisfied with it) or build a parallel network – the service serves as a built-in guarantee to resist ad-based models, such as ad-based models, Graber expressed opposition to the company's mission.
According to Graber, this approach reflects the open structure of the web itself, where users can choose AD blockers or switch search engines. “Creating these restrictions for yourself at the beginning means we are more creative in how we solve this problem,” she said.
