Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, has launched a new social media platform called Bluesky. The platform is currently in the testing phase and is available on the Apple App Store.
Bluesky offers a simplified user interface where users can create posts of up to 256 characters, including photos. Like Twitter, users can share, mute, and block accounts, search for and follow other individuals, and view updates in a Home timeline. However, advanced tools like adding accounts to lists are not yet available.
Bluesky was originally conceived in 2019 as a project within Twitter, but was established as an independent company focused on decentralized social network research and development in 2022. According to the company, the goal of the platform is to develop technologies that enable open and decentralized public conversation, with the aim of creating a durable protocol for public conversation.
London: Woman sexually assaults man at Euston Underground station, Police release pics from CCTV
Last year, Bluesky received $13 million in funding, with Dorsey on its board. In a tweet, the company said, "Bluesky has received $13 million to ensure we have the freedom and independence to get started on R&D. Former Twitter CEO @jack is on our board and a former Twitter security engineer has joined the team."
Bluesky is seen as a potential competitor to Twitter and other social media platforms. In October 2022, Dorsey tweeted that Bluesky intends to be "a competitor to any company trying to own the underlying fundamentals for social media or the data of the people using it."
The launch of Bluesky comes after Twitter saw a migration of users to other social media apps like Mastodon following its acquisition by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a massive $44 billion deal.