If you are building your business or personal brand on social media, you have heard about Bluesky, a fast-growing alternative to Twitter/X. But Bluesky is more than a Twitter clone. It's a big step forward to change how much control we have when using social media. 

What is Bluesky? 

If you have used Twitter or Meta's Threads, you'll find the same experience through Bluesky. 

Bluesky is a short message social media platform similar to Twitter/X and Threads. Users can post messages of up to 300 characters, similar to standard Twitter posts. They can also post images and videos, as well as respond to other people's posts through likes, reposts, and comments. 

At first glance, Bluesky bears a striking resemblance to Twitter, which isn't accidental. Bluesky started as a project inside Twitter in 2019 to address problems with traditional social media. As such, it mimics Twitter's core functions. 

When Twitter was sold, Bluesky spun off into a separate company, creating an independent alternative that has many of Twitter/X's best features. 

What makes Bluesky different? 

Traditional social media has several drawbacks. When you post a message to Twitter/X, that data sits on the Twitter/X servers that it controls. You cannot create your own Twitter/X server, and you don't completely control your data on the service. This situation, called "centralised architecture," is the same on other social media services too, such as Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. 

Bluesky isn't centralised. Instead, it uses the Authenticated Transfer protocol, which allows anyone to create their unique Bluesky server that Bluesky does not control or have access to. There are also official Bluesky servers, and you can easily migrate between different servers. 

This change allows for other differences. For example, most social media sites use algorithms to show you new content. But on Bluesky, you can create custom feeds and moderated lists to decide what you want to see. You also have a choice on using different algorithms to curate posts. Administrators can control who joins their servers and what content they produce, enabling people to create Bluesky services for specific communities. 

In other words, Bluesky puts the control over data and content in the hands of users. 

Should you use Bluesky? 

Bluesky provides spaces to meet other people and share interests, bringing back the early days of social media before it became dominated by ads and marketing content. If you feel that social media has lost its ability to build networks and communities, Bluesky represents a good alternative. 

However, Bluesky is still relatively small: it has, on average, 5 million daily active users compared to Twitter/X's 250 million daily active users. Yet, this also makes it easier to find meaningful connections and communities on Bluesky. 

If you enjoy building your brand and connections through social media or if you want to have more control over the content you see, it's worth giving Bluesky a look. You can use the early adopter advantage and grow your audience as Bluesky becomes more popular. 

Ready to try Bluesky? You can find the Bluesky app on Android, Apple iOS, or visit the website. You can also watch this short video to see what you can do with Bluesky. For great connectivity while using Bluesky, try one of these Vodacom Fibre deals or one of these other Vodacom home internet options.