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Bluesky hits 2M users; public web interface and federation coming

Invitation-only social media app Bluesky has just hit 2M users one year after launch, and just a couple of months after reaching the 1M user milestone …

The company made the announcement in a blog post.

Exactly one year ago, on November 16, 2022, the first post on Bluesky was created.

Fast forward a year later, and we’ve just crossed two million users after opening the app to users around February. We’re excited to continue growing a truly open social network.

Public web access next

Currently, you need a Bluesky account to be able to read posts, but the company says this will change later this month.

More exciting news: around the end of this month, we’ll release a public web interface. With this, you’ll be able to view posts on Bluesky without being logged in on an account.

This will make posts on Bluesky much more accessible, which will be especially useful for real-time commentary and breaking news.

Bluesky reminds users that all posts have always been public through the API, but never before accessible to anyone on the web.

Federation coming early next year

The Twitter/X experience has shown the dangers of being locked into a social media platform, as you never know when it may change beyond all recognition – or, indeed, go bust.

Federation is a way to free social media users from dependence on a single platform. Instead of the data being held centrally by a single company, it is distributed across independently-hosted servers. Everyone has ownership over their own data, and can retain both posts and contacts if they decide to jump ship, or a service goes down.

Bluesky says that federation will happen early next year. The post includes a not-too-subtle dig at X owner Elon Musk, with a reference to making the platform “billionaire-proof” …

Imagine you’ve just spent 10 years building your audience and making friends on a social platform, only to decide that it’s no longer for you. When you leave this platform, you’re essentially leaving behind all of your relationships, your saved posts, and more.

We’ve been there too, and we’re similarly tired of packing our bags each time another platform winds down and everyone collectively moves to the next big thing. Signing up for a new social network every few years and losing all our data on former ones shouldn’t be the price that we have to pay in order to keep our relationships online.

That’s why our biggest priority right now is launching federation, which is timelined for early next year. This is one of the core features of Bluesky that makes it “billionaire-proof” — you’ll always have the freedom to choose (and to exit) instead of being held to the whims of private companies or black box algorithms. And wherever you go, your friends and relationships will be there too.

Image: Bluesky/9to5Mac

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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