After being invite-only for over a year, micro-blogging social platform Bluesky opened to all users earlier this month. It has already garnered over 4.8 million users, reports suggest. While the fact that it’s backed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey does stoke intrigue, what also needs to be factored in is how it’s different from traditional social networks. While Bluesky’s interface is such that it reminds users of the old Twitter, what is different is that it is decentralised and uses an open source framework. Incidentally, an increasing number of decentralised social networks are coming up, offering alternatives to traditional social media. Notably, many have caught the public eye since Elon Musk assumed leadership of Twitter, now X, and how the platform has become jarring since. Users looked for alternatives, which catalysed the rise in decentralised social networks.

What is decentralised social media?

Unlike the legacy platforms, decentralised social networks aren’t controlled by a single entity or limited to a centralised server. These are hosted on independent servers, and run on open-source software, meaning users and developers outside of these platforms can know how it is built and what is being developed. In other words, there is more transparency, and the workings aren’t controlled by a single company.

Popular networks

Some popular decentralised social media platforms include:

Mastodon

Founded way back in 2016, this one got especially popular since Musk’s takeover of X. Among the foremost open-source, microblogging platforms in the world, it allows users to share text-based microblogs, pictures, GIFs, and videos. The users have the authority on what appears on their feed, which is chronological, and they can join various servers based on the topics of their interest. While Mastodon remains popular, many complain that the platform comes off as a bit inaccessible.

Threads

While technically Threads isn’t decentralised, upon its launch last year, Meta had unveiled its plans for the fediverse, hence, stoking a conversation over the decentralised future of the social network. First things first, fediverse is a mix of federation and universe. It is composed of decentralised social networks, and enables the individual networks to communicate with one another due to the use of multiple servers. Put simply, a fediverse is a combination of social networks, which can communicate with one another, while being independent. While Threads isn’t decentralised now, Meta says it will enable users to engage with other fediverse platforms.

Hive Social

Another newer entrant into this space is Hive Social, which was founded in 2019, and as of November 2022 had 1.5 million users. It offers features including textual posts, images, polls, profile music, among others. It has a chronological feed, and there aren’t any ads. However, it uses a native cryptocurrency as a reward to users to create content and engage with users.

Bluesky

The newest player in the market, Bluesky opened with gaining almost 800,000 new users within a day. By the look and feel of it, it appears like an earlier version of Twitter, allowing users to share micro-blogs of 256 characters, as well as pictures. One can also like, retweet, and reply to a post. However, it doesn’t have some of the features like direct messages. Incidentally, in November, Bluesky had announced its plans to launch its federation “early next year”. In a post, it said, “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.” While the platform has had a good start, it still has some catching up to do given a number of players already in the market. Also, while X has had a topsy-turvy ride under Musk, it still remains foremost in the micro-blogging social media space. However, with an increasing number of decentralised social networks coming up, it will be interesting to see how this space plays out, and if we’ll see an overhaul of how the traditional social media operate.