How decentralized is Bluesky really?
Bluesky is gaining popularity as an alternative to X-Twitter, but it faces concerns over centralization and increasing resource requirements, despite positive leadership and user-friendly features.
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Bluesky, a social media platform gaining traction as users migrate from X-Twitter, is built on the ATProto protocol. While it has been praised for its user-friendly features and ability to scale, it is not considered truly decentralized or federated. The platform's architecture allows for content-addressed storage, which enables posts to persist even if a node goes offline, a feature not currently utilized in the broader fediverse. However, the centralization of Bluesky is evident as it relies on a limited number of Personal Data Stores, which creates a barrier to entry for independent operators. The platform's growth has led to increased resource requirements for running nodes, with storage needs for relays skyrocketing from 1 terabyte to approximately 5 terabytes in just four months. This trend raises concerns about the sustainability of Bluesky's decentralized claims, as the infrastructure becomes more resource-intensive. Despite these critiques, Bluesky is seen as a viable alternative to X-Twitter, particularly for users seeking a familiar interface and experience. The leadership of Jay Graber is noted positively, emphasizing the team's commitment to the platform's goals.
- Bluesky is gaining popularity as an alternative to X-Twitter amid user migration.
- The platform is not truly decentralized or federated, despite some features that allow for content persistence.
- Resource requirements for running Bluesky nodes are increasing significantly, raising concerns about accessibility.
- Jay Graber's leadership is viewed positively, contributing to the platform's development and user experience.
- Bluesky serves as a feature-rich replacement for users disillusioned with X-Twitter.
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8 commentsDMs were added out of protocol for exactly the reason the author suspects: users were clamoring for this functionality, and doing it right will take a while. So they’ve alluded to plans to bring them back into the protocol, but for now, most people are okay with trusting Bluesky and being able to do what they want to do. It’s effectively a non-regression from the point of “I’m migrating from Twitter.”
> it seems unlikely that downplaying the role of domains is something Bluesky as an organization will be motivated to do since selling domains is currently a Bluesky business strategy.
It seems like this integration has disappeared, as far as I can tell. They didn’t say anything about it publicly that I saw.
Both are worth reading. So much analysis starts with either doubting the intentions of the Bluesky people or from some level of misinformation or misunderstanding, and it's hard to even begin addressing that.
Informed critique is vital to keeping things on track. This sets the standard.
Does anyone have recommended reading about how Bluesky implements this? I've skimmed the docs at atproto.com but I'm not sure how this fits in there. It's also not clear to me how content-addressed content protects against node failures in general.
I think a lot of this work is cool, in particular I love the stuff cribbed from IPFS. But I think the main idea here ("we got into trouble because we took responsibility for moderation, let's at least make it possible for it to be someone else's responsibility so we can say 'hey, you might not like our moderation and that's fair; just run your own!'") doesn't address the core problems Twitter had. This structure of media heavily incentivizes shallow communication and rage bait. It divides us by reducing us to cardboard cutouts of our hottest takes and worst moments. It isn't a good idea. Making it impervious to Congressional scorn isn't a step in the right direction.
But OK, stipulating I'm wrong here, it seems fully bonkers that in order to "decentralize" a platform like Twitter that each node has to have a full archive of everything. Who realistically would do this? Wouldn't it be easier to offer your own moderation algorithm or client instead? Is it supposed to protect against Elon Musk buying it too? Feels like being open source and running some replicas is easier (again, the NNTP model).
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