Last year when I started DaveTech, a hyperlocal tech support business helping people from all walks of life with their tech, I created several social media accounts to promote my business. For Facebook and Instagram, it was easy to get the accounts up and running. In no time, I was posting content and comments, and that quickly attracted followers and likes.
Elon Musk’s X was another story. I would tweet my blog posts or comment on other tech-related posts and all I’d get were follows from bot accounts predominantly made up of scantily-clad women, often with a link to an OnlyFans page or some sketchy promotion.
“Quality” conversation that’s meh
It felt the only way to benefit from the platform formerly known as Twitter X before Elon Musk’s takeover was to pay to play. X Premium’s FAQ page literally says “X Premium is our premium subscription service that elevates quality conversations on the platform.” Really? If I pay $22 a month for X Premium+, the quality of the conversation is elevated? Sorry, but hard pass.
Not only was the paid model and its reasoning a turn off, but Musk, who’s first tweet after his $44 billion purchase of the platform was “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy” can only be viewed as hypocritical.
Here are my main gripes with X in its current form:
–Wrongfully suspended accounts: X’s suspension of journalists and left-leaning accounts now misaligned with Musk and, what seems like, his relatively new-found, right wing views.
–Unbanning of The Banned: Reinstating rightfully banned accounts like self-proclaimed misogynist and former kickboxer Andrew Tate, Mike Lindell aka the MyPillow guy and, of course, Donald Trump, who was booted from the platform after the J6 insurrection. This was also after Musk promised advertisers and civil rights groups that he would not do this.
–MAGA Ads: The departure of blue chip advertisers leaving a void to be filled with cheap ads mostly for third party MAGA products. Ads are bad enough but MAGA ads, woof.
–Link throttling: It’s been reported that when tweets include links to sites outside of X that Elon Musk doesn’t like, such as The New York Times or Facebook, it can cause the tweet’s reach to be limited or slowed down. This means fewer people may see the tweet.
–Comment bombing, trolls, and hate speech: People who paid for X and had a certain number of followers could apply to make money from their account. Once this started, many began posting GIFs, memes, and eye-catching non-sequiturs within posts just to make money. This, along with a rise in hate speech and trolling—likely because X removed its content moderation team—led to a much worse experience for users.
Bluesky makes the scene
Social media refugees fleeing X now were looking for a home — enter decentralized social media platform Bluesky Social. After an invite-only beta phase, Bluesky opened doors to all in February 2024.
Between the left’s growing disdain for Musk and his overhaul of X, combined with an election year now in full swing, the timing for the adoption of a new social media town square was perfect.
With Trump’s win and Musk at his side, Bluesky saw an uptick of over 500% in app usage with notable departure from X during mid-November. Even though Mastodon, another decentralized microblogging alternative to X was already available to all, Bluesky was far more user-friendly, providing an interface reminiscent of the old X. Also Bluesky was already attracting big names from the sports, politics, tech, and arts arenas, only adding to Bluesky’s appeal.
Why you should try Bluesky
Bluesky Social stands out with its focus on content moderation, decentralization, and, most importantly, it offers a unique social media experience for users as it’s not controlled by an individual or corporation. It allows users to create and share their own algorithms—essentially custom filters that decide what content to see—giving them greater control over their feed. This contrasts with platforms like X or Threads, where you’re just along for the ride, like flotsam on the waves of an algorithm, with little control over the content you’re shown. Bluesky, however, empowers users to build algorithms that others can follow, instead of relying on past behavior to dictate future content.
There are several Bluesky features worth exploring. They can be a bit daunting at first for a Bluesky newbie, but I have found that they enhance the experience.
–Starter Packs: Any user can create a starter pack, which is a cluster of accounts procured by its creator. For example, check out NPR’s starter pack. With one click, you can view up to 150 accounts in their pack comprised of journalists and affiliate outlets’ accounts. Either follow them all with a single click or comb through a pack and follow the individual ones that you want. Asking someone to include your account in their starter pack is also a great way to get your name out there.
–Lists: Using Bluesky lists is a great way to organize people you follow and even don’t follow. There are no rules for organizing one and users can create as many as they want. A list shows all the Bluesky activity of the users included in the list. For example, if your friends are on the app, maybe you want to create a “friends list” so here you could view all of your friends’ Bluesky activity.
–Feeds: Feeds are user-created algorithms that act like content aggregators, collecting and organizing posts from various sources based on specific interests. Users can follow one feed at a time, making it easier to focus on topics (like politics or sports). Unlike traditional aggregators, which are usually created by platforms, Bluesky Feeds are built by users themselves. While creating a feed currently requires technical skills, Bluesky plans to make this feature available to everyone in the future, allowing more people to curate their own content streams.
DaveTech joins Bluesky
Bluesky now has over 26 million users, including journalists as well as the scientific community, and of course, myself. DaveTech’s newly created X account was deactivated and I’ve been very much enjoying Bluesky and not missing out on the toxicity. So, so long, X. Hello, Bluesky! And don’t forget to follow me on Bluesky!
David Zylber is the founder of DaveTech, a tech support business headquartered in Wayland, MA. He has an extensive background in video production, digital media, and customer support for tech startups.
