Bluesky Reaches 15 Million, Threads Gains 15 Million More

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Before I have to go to work on a rare overnight shift, I wanted to write about the current social landscape, and less about some kind of perceived competition between Threads and Bluesky, and more about what it means to use these platforms. Obviously, there are reasons to be on Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon, and for some, it’s a race to the finish line, as to which one “wins” the main-character-social-media-site award.

But I don’t believe either of the three options will ever be the “main-line, main-character” choice. I think people will continue from this point forward, having specific things they want to accomplish and do online, and the place they go will depend on those very things.

Obviously, if you join Threads, you’re probably a fan of Instagram, and you’re looking to connect with, maybe, your audience, or something. And then there’s the ex-Twitter users spilling over, because, it is for sure something like Twitter.

Then you have Bluesky, the site that’s billing itself to be a Twitter replacement, gaining users rapidly, and there are definitely reasons you shouldn’t build a site in order to be the next Twitter. But, there are caveats of Bluesky, in that, you can post your balls and ass, and you won’t get censored. And lots, and lots of people love to do that, on Bluesky, specifically.

And then there’s the community building, the list-making, and the large portion of LGBTQ+ users flocking to the site.

It could contend to be a place that doesn’t suck.

And then you have Mastodon, basically, where everyone else goes. Linux enjoyers, and developers alike, especially. And one of the only social media places on the internet that isn’t run by either a billionaire, or backed by some kind of venture capital.

But what does it mean to use the other two?

Obviously, Zuck is a billionaire, a billionaire who definitely has bad ideas, and bad opinions. On the flipside, like mentioned in one of my recent articles, Bluesky is backed by Bitcoin Capital, run by people who know Steven Bannon intimately. So, are you really ultimately in for anything different than what you were exposed to on Twitter?

Maybe, maybe not.

I do think, though, that it’s becoming kind of muddy to say, “You shouldn’t use this, you should use that instead” because, as I’ve just mentioned, both Threads and Bluesky have issues with influence from … the darker side of politics, and the world.

Notice how I don’t mention Mastodon, or ActivityPub in that, because AP is exactly what you make it. But, if I’ve learned anything, very many people want to sign up on something and then forget about it, forever. Which is not something you do on Mastodon. On Mastodon, you have to be an active participant, almost at all times in order for it to become something that you enjoy. And, let’s face it, if you look at regular, normal users on Threads (for example), there are droves, and droves of people wholly uninterested in social participation, and more interested in a viral post that’ll make them an imaginary millionaire.

At this point, I don’t think it matters too much what you use between the three, and fighting about it is a worthless endeavor. Bluesky and Threads are both connected to ActivityPub in different ways, anyway. So … you could say that Mastodon has already won this metaphorical social media war.

But, again, I don’t think these things matter.

I do think you should consider your environment, and what the people who facilitate it believe, and say, on a regular basis. You should think critically about your participation online, be it via Threads, Bluesky, or even Mastodon.

And you most definitely shouldn’t be on Twitter.