Bluesky's CEO on the Future of Social Media | SXSW LIVE

Blue Sky: An Open Social Network - Summary

Key Concepts: Open social network, protocol vs. platform, user choice, developer freedom, federation, decentralization, content moderation as governance, composable moderation, billionaire-proof, user consent for AI, sustainable monetization, portable identity, custom feeds, starter packs, learned helplessness.

1. Introduction: Coming Full Circle

• The conversation starts with a reflection on the initial meeting between the speakers, sparked by a paper titled "Protocols Not Platforms" (2019) advocating for decentralized social networks.
• The paper highlighted concerns about the control exerted by large tech companies and proposed using protocols as a valuable alternative.
• Blue Sky is presented as a realization of this vision, boasting over 30 million users.

2. What is Blue Sky?

• Definition: Blue Sky is an open social network aiming to make social media more like the web.
• Key Difference: It prioritizes user choice and developer freedom by building on an open protocol instead of a centralized platform.
• Example: Blue Sky doesn't downrank links, positioning itself as a gateway to the open web.
• Foundation: The open protocol is the core element guaranteeing long-term openness.
• User Base: Initially attracted developers, artists, journalists, and scientists; now expanding to include communities like sports.
• Customization: Users can tailor their experience to specific interests (e.g., science news and cat pictures).

3. Challenges of Building Blue Sky

• Core Tension: Balancing a usable social app with the scalability of an open protocol.
• Technical Challenges: Scaling from 0 to 32 million users in two years required constant rethinking of technical and organizational approaches.
• Trade-off Example: In early 2023, the choice was between scaling on AWS (expensive, centralized) or building out federation behind the scenes. The latter was chosen, delaying the opening but resulting in a federated internal network and external federation by February 2024.
• Analogy: Building the wings on an airplane while it's flying.

4. Blue Sky's Independence from Twitter and Jack Dorsey

• Independence: Blue Sky is fully independent, though it originated as an internal project at Twitter in 2019.
• Timeline:
  • 2019: Jack Dorsey announces Twitter funding a protocol.
  • Mid-2021: Jay Graber chosen to lead the project.
  • Blue Sky becomes an independent organization and contractor with Twitter.
• Reference Client: Blue Sky was initially framed as a reference client to test the protocol.
• Demand: A million user signups on the waitlist indicated the need to launch it as a real product.
• Current Status: Entirely independent, with no connection to Twitter. Twitter's board seat ended when contracts were cut. Blue Sky has since raised money independently.

5. Content Moderation and Trust & Safety

• Moderation as Governance: Moderation is viewed as choosing how a digital space is governed.
• Multi-layered Approach:
  • Blue Sky moderation service within the app.
  • Stackable moderation services (labelers) created by developers or community builders.
  • Example: AI-generated image labeler or a politics labeler.
• Composable Approach: Outside the Blue Sky app, developers can pick and choose moderation policies to incorporate into their own apps.
• Ozone: The open-source moderation service used by Blue Sky, allowing others to build their own services.

6. Addressing Concerns about "Bad Actors" (e.g., Nazis)

• Protocol as Language: A protocol enables communication but doesn't force it.
• Analogy: The Mastodon ecosystem, where some instances chose not to connect with Gab due to differing norms.
• Open Marketplace Approach: Services can choose who to connect with based on their norms.
• App Store Policies: Compliance with Apple's policies sets parameters for moderation.

7. Dealing with Toxicity

• Choose Your Own Adventure: Blue Sky aims to provide a customizable experience.
• Customization Options:
  • Using specific feeds.
  • Installing moderation services.
  • Controlling replies (e.g., only allowing replies from followers).
  • Opting out of quote posts.
• User Choice: Users can choose between a "PvP" mentality or a closed, safe experience.
• Blue Sky Moderation Service: Sets parameters for discourse, including anti-harassment policies.

8. Blue Sky as "Billionaire Proof"

• Learned Helplessness: Users have been conditioned to complain to billionaires or the government about social media issues.
• Open Protocol Guarantee: Users always have the right to leave.
• Open Source Code: Allows cloning and creating new versions of Blue Sky.
• User Choice Incentivizes Service: If Blue Sky makes changes users dislike, they can switch to alternatives.
• Public Benefit Corporation: Blue Sky has a mission to build an open protocol for public conversation, aligning the board and team.
• Billionaire Takeover Mitigation: A smooth migration path exists if a billionaire changes Blue Sky in a way users dislike.
• Poison Pill Effect: Decreases the incentive for billionaires to acquire Blue Sky.

9. User Choice in Detail

• Concrete Examples: Custom feeds, composable moderation, self-hosting, and alternative apps.
• Custom Feeds: Marketplace of over 50,000 feeds (e.g., science posts, cat pictures). Users can create their own.
• Composable Moderation: Installing custom moderation services (e.g., US politics labeler, AI art labeler).
• Self-Hosting: Users can run their own personal data server and bring their own domain name.
• Alternative Clients: Using apps like Flashes (photo-sharing app) to access the same network.

10. Examples of Custom Feeds

• Quiet Posters: Shows posts from users followed who don't post often.
• Ketchup: Most popular posts from the last 24 hours.
• Moss Feed: Pictures of moss in mossy forests.

11. Flashes App and Permissionless Innovation

• Independent Developer: Flashes is built by an independent developer.
• Integration: Users can sign in with their Blue Sky account and see their photos in a grid format.
• Shared Network: Treats the open data network as a shared network anyone can build on.
• Permissionless Innovation: Anyone can build a new app and connect it with a Blue Sky username without permission.
• Overcoming Network Density Challenge: New apps can tap into an existing user base of 32 million users.
• Flushing Im: Example of a niche app built on the protocol, posting whether the user is in the bathroom.

12. AI and User Consent

• User Choice: Blue Sky believes in user choice regarding AI.
• Framework for User Consent: Working with partners to develop a framework for how user data is used for generative AI.
• Analogy: Robots.txt for websites, specifying whether they want to be scraped by search engines.
• Social Consensus: Requires social consensus for the framework to work.
• Account or Post Level Specification: Users can specify how they want their data to be used at the account or post level.

13. Monetization

• Principles: Keeping the business model aligned with users in the long run.
• First Step: Subscriptions.
• Developer Services: Keeping incentives aligned with developers as the ecosystem grows.
• Marketplace Approach: Taking a cut of transactions in the ecosystem (third-party feeds, moderation services).
• Money Follows Value: Proving the model is valuable before monetizing.
• Open Protocol as Guarantee: If Blue Sky strays too far from its principles, users can leave.

14. Achieving Critical Mass

• Market Opportunity: People are looking for better alternatives to existing social media.
• New Paradigm: Blue Sky provides a new paradigm that gives people the ability to build ideas.
• History of Technology: Dominant companies have come and gone.
• Customization: Users can customize their experience.
• Open Ecosystem: Innovation is not bottlenecked on Blue Sky.
• Starter Packs: Innovation copied by larger companies.

15. Starter Packs

• Problem: Users wanted to bring their friends over to Blue Sky more easily.
• Solution: A way to build a list of accounts and share it through a link or QR code.
• Benefits:
  • Quickly build communities.
  • Discover new people to follow.
• Example: Marine Biologists Starter Pack.

16. Media Users

• Uptake: Media folks have embraced Blue Sky.
• Portal to the Open Web: Links don't get downranked.
• News Feeds: Specialized news feeds catch up on articles from news organizations.
• Link-Only Feeds: See all the links shared by friends.
• Gift Link Custom Feed: Shares media links that bypass paywalls.

17. Decentralization

• Everyday Decentralized Protocols: The web and email.
• Portable Identity: Users can keep their username when moving between services.
• Blue Sky as a Service: Lets users communicate with the network, but it's not the only option.
• Innovation: Keeps the door open to innovation and better social experiences.

18. Future Vision

• Social Not Inherently Toxic: Improve social networks by focusing on user control and choice.
• Empowerment: Users should feel empowered to build what they want.
• Diverse Social Ecosystem: Different apps, experiences, feeds, and moderation services.
• Academics and Pro-Social Feeds: Academics can research and build pro-social feeds directly on Blue Sky.

19. Overcoming Learned Helplessness

• Bring Back the Good of Social Media: Recreate the excitement, possibility, and opportunity of early social media.
• Community Project: Blue Sky is a community project with open source code and an open protocol.
• Lowering the Threshold to Participation: Making it easier to build things on Blue Sky.
• No-Code Custom Feed Creators: Users don't need to know how to code to build feeds.

20. Algorithms

• Algorithms Can Be Good: Algorithms can be used for pro-social or helpful reasons.
• Problem with Current Algorithms: One algorithm that's a black box, driven towards an ad-driven feed model.
• Open Choice: Users should be able to choose between algorithms.
• Farmers Market of Algorithms: Custom feed marketplace with a variety of algorithms.
• Healthier Way to Experience Algorithms: Users have control over whether they want to be in "high fructose corn syrup mode" or choose a healthier option.

21. Getting Involved

• Use the App: Download it, check it out, and follow people through starter packs.
• Developers: Build apps on the open protocol.
• Community Builders: Help shape the culture by posting, running a moderation service, or creating a feed.
• Creators: Establish a presence on Blue Sky.
• Contact Partnerships Team: partnerships at blue Sky web XYZ.

22. Conclusion

Blue Sky is presented as a community-driven project aiming to build a more open, customizable, and user-empowered social media experience. By prioritizing protocols over platforms, fostering user choice, and encouraging permissionless innovation, Blue Sky hopes to create a healthier and more diverse social ecosystem where users are not helpless but empowered to shape their own online experiences.