Why Bluesky is Worth a Shot (But Don’t Get Too Excited)

By: The Zeitgeist Editorial Team

Is the grass greener on the other side? We don’t know, but the sky sure as hell is bluer. Almost two years after Elon Musk decided to play God with Twitter, transforming it into the trainwreck that is X, millions have fled the burning ruins of that once-lovable chaos machine. Enter Bluesky — the platform that is here to prove that if billionaires can destroy something, maybe there’s a chance for people who care about the internet to build something better.

Bluesky started out as an idea from former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: a decentralized social app that was meant to shake up the world of online discourse. Fast-forward a few years, and now Bluesky is living that dream, powered by the AT Protocol, giving transparency that corporate giants like X, Meta, or any other Silicon Valley overlord never could. No black box algorithms, no billionaire whims, just a platform that actually treats users as people. What a novel concept.

Since its public launch in February 2024, Bluesky gained 800,000 users in a day and now stands at over 10 million users. Not quite enough to rival Meta’s Threads’ bloated 130 million user count, but at least we know those numbers on Bluesky are genuine people, not just a bunch of numbers boosted by a corporate mandate.

And let's be honest: Bluesky isn’t just a Twitter clone. It’s a place that understands that social media should be fun, not some oppressive hellscape where every single move is scrutinized by bots and administrators who can’t take a joke (looking at you, Threads). Bluesky lets users choose their own custom feeds, adjust their experience, and use tools like Ozone to control what they see and what they don’t. It’s social media the way it should be — customizable, human, and without Mark Zuckerberg’s sticky fingers all over your data.

Threads, on the other hand, has spiraled into a moderation dystopia. Accounts are being restricted and deleted for sharing anything that even smells like controversy, thanks to Meta’s hair-trigger approach to censorship. Say the word "saltines" and you’re instantly vaporized from the platform — welcome to the Kafkaesque nightmare that is Threads moderation. It’s all under the guise of keeping everyone “safe,” but the truth is Meta just wants to micromanage your every move. The only thing they're really good at moderating is your free thought.

On Bluesky, the vibe is different. You can be yourself, without the risk of some algorithm mistaking your dog’s name as a violation of the community standards. It’s a space for authentic human interaction — or as close as you can get on the internet these days. And that’s a breath of fresh air, especially when we take a look at what’s become of Twitter, now renamed X.

Look, we’re not here to tell you that Bluesky is perfect or that it’s going to save the world. It’s a social media site. No one should be out here jerking off some app or acting like it’s going to solve all our problems. But compared to the alternatives, it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s just a space where you can be human without a corporate algorithm deciding what version of you is profitable. And that’s worth something.

Elon Musk’s X is, quite simply, a disaster. Remember when Twitter was a chaotic yet entertaining melting pot of every community imaginable? Now it’s just a fertile breeding ground for white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and far-right conspiracy theorists. NBC News found that at least 150 verified X accounts were sharing pro-Nazi content. Musk said his platform had “zero tolerance” for violent speech, yet the Nazi content is alive and thriving. If anything, Musk’s tenure at the helm of X has been a demonstration of what happens when a bored billionaire cosplays as the savior of the world, only to amplify hate and division in the process.

Pro-Nazi content, unchecked antisemitism, and glorification of violence are apparently now just part of the X brand. Musk’s misguided “freedom of speech, not reach” policy is a tragic joke — it’s freedom of speech if you’re spreading hate, but don’t you dare question the system. Meanwhile, the few advertisers that haven’t abandoned X are having their ads served right next to Nazi content, so that’s definitely the brand safety Musk promised when he bought the platform.

The truth is, while Elon Musk is playing fascist footsie with verified Nazis on X, Bluesky is out here giving people the kind of online space we all need — something that’s just fun. No billionaires, no corporate overlords, no bullshit. Just sky blue and wide open.

—The Zeitgeist.