The social media behemoth Meta META is under scrutiny after announcing plans to remove political content from its recommendations on Instagram and Threads. This move has sparked interest in the decentralized social media platform Bluesky, which now offers a unique selling point of custom feeds and user choice.
What Happened: Meta recently decided to exclude political content from its suggestions on Instagram and Threads. This has drawn attention to Bluesky, a decentralized social media platform that is now promoting customizable feeds and user autonomy, TechCrunch reported on Thursday.
During a recent interview with the Techmeme Ride Home podcast, CEO Jay Graber of Bluesky highlighted the potential issues that can arise when a single company controls the algorithms. She emphasized that Bluesky’s app is designed to allow users to select the type of content they see on their feeds.
On Bluesky, users have the option to curate their social media experience. They can choose to follow politically themed custom feeds and trending topics or opt to exclude politics entirely. This sets it apart from centralized platforms like Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Elon Musk‘s X (previously Twitter).
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Bluesky, which operates on the AT Protocol, is also set to integrate with ActivityPub, the protocol used by Mastodon, a popular open-source competitor of X. Despite Threads’ plans to join the ActivityPub-powered federated network, Meta’s moderation decisions will still apply to all users, given Threads’ massive user base of over 130 million monthly active users.
On the other hand, Bluesky has experienced significant growth, nearly doubling its user base to almost 5 million since its recent public launch. The platform’s appeal lies in its user-friendly customizable features, notably lacking in Mastodon.
Why It Matters: This development comes after Meta’s announcement of enhanced election safeguards for 2024. These measures are aimed at tackling misinformation during the elections in major democracies such as the U.S., India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the European Union.
Additionally, Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform, recently dropped its invite-only model and opened its doors to all interested users. The platform, backed by Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, saw over 3 million sign-ups since its launch. Bluesky’s decision to remove the invite-only sign-up system and its unique approach to user choice and customization positions it as a strong competitor to Meta’s centralized platforms.
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