Twitter co-founder’s alternative social media app launches on Android

3 years ago 3

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Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky social media app is now available on Android after rolling out to iOS in February 2023.

Accessing the app on either platform still requires an invite code, and the current user base is reportedly limited to around 25,000 users for testing purposes.

To become eligible for receiving a code, interested users must subscribe to a waiting list on the app’s website.

Bluesky started as a Twitter-backed initiative in 2019 and boasts many of the same features and design elements as its former counterpart.

However, it emphasises decentralisation, with a more open approach to its content recommendation algorithms and moderation policies.

“We want a future where you control what you see on social media,” said Bluesky CEO Jay Garber in a recent blog post.

“We aim to replace the conventional ‘master algorithm,’ controlled by a single company, with an open and diverse ‘marketplace of algorithms’.”

The AT Protocol V1 that Bluesky plans to launch soon will support the aggregation of algorithms, similar to search engines.

“Users will be able to find, share, and add algorithms to their clients,” Garber said. “Our UX design allows users to swipe between favourite algorithms or view a multi-algorithm feed.”

The platform is taking a similar approach to moderation by supporting an ecosystem of third-party providers.

“Under the hood, centralised social sites use labelling to implement moderation — we think this piece can be unbundled, opened up to third-party innovation, and configured with user agency in mind.”

“Anyone should be able to create or subscribe to moderation labels that third parties create.”

“We do automated labeling, like centralised social sites, and make service-level admin decisions, like many federated networks.

“But the piece we’re most excited about is the open, composable labeling system we’re building that both developers and users can contribute to.”

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has sent some of the platform’s most devout users that don’t agree with the eccentric billionaire’s changes and general management approach to alternatives like Mastodon.

While many of these users believe that Bluesky will be a similar alternative that does not deal with the same issues as Twitter under Musk, it is worth noting that Dorsey is a close friend of the world’s second-richest man.

Both have proclaimed themselves as champions of free speech, and Dorsey has publicly lamented the direction that Twitter took during its time as a publicly-listed company.

Dorsey said he believes Twitter should have been an open protocol rather than developing into a company with centralised control over its algorithm and moderation.