Twitter-Like App Backed by Jack Dorsey Launches as Invite-Only Beta
The Twitter-like Bluesky app, backed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is now available in the App Store(Opens in a new window) as an invite-only beta.
The Bluesky(Opens in a new window) initiative aims to develop a decentralized social media protocol, where multiple social networks, each with their own system of curation and moderation, can interact through a single application of the same name.
"Find your scene, post what's new, and stay connected," the App Store description reads. Two screenshots look as if they were taken directly from Twitter. It's unclear how much, if at all, the aesthetic will change before public release, but anyone who's used Twitter will recognize the retweet and heart buttons, Home and Notifications icons, and personal profile with followers, following, and posts counts.
Bluesky dates back to 2019, when Dorsey was still CEO of Twitter. At the time, he said he was funding a small independent team charged with developing an "open and decentralized standard for social media." The goal: turn Twitter into a client of this standard.
It was a little surprising because Dorsey seemed to be proposing killing off Twitter for a new open standard. He argued, however, that "we're facing entirely new challenges centralized solutions are struggling to meet."
By 2021, Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO, but in the wake of Elon Musk's Twitter takeover, he's continued to advocate for a more de-centralized approach to social media. The first iteration of the Bluesky protocol arrived(Opens in a new window) in October 2022.
The Bluesky project is powered by the Authenticated Transfer (AT) open-source social protocol, and is built on four main ideals: account portability, algorithmic, performance, and
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