Bluesky
In 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced a new initiative called Bluesky to explore decentralizing social media. The goal was to create an open standard that gave users more control over their data and experience. Dorsey drew inspiration from an essay by Mike Masnick titled Protocols Not Platforms which described a crisis in content moderation where platforms faced accusations of both censorship and leniency on hate speech. A working group of experts gathered in a Matrix chat room but failed to reach consensus on the best path forward. By early 2021, fifty people from the decentralized technology community were assessing options for the project. In August 2021, Twitter hired Jay Graber to lead the effort and develop what became known as the Authenticated Data Experiment or ADX. Twitter provided thirteen million dollars in initial funding to begin development.
Bluesky Social developed the AT Protocol alongside a reference implementation of its own social media service. The protocol's architecture centers around three main services: a Personal Data Server or PDS, a Relay, and an AppView. A PDS hosts user data within Data Repositories that utilize a Merkle tree structure. It also handles authentication and manages signing keys for hosted repositories. A Relay functions like an indexer on the web ingesting repositories from various PDS hosts and serving them in a unified stream. AppViews consume data from a Relay and serve it to final users. As of November 2024 most components remained available only through Bluesky Social or required company-run services to connect to the network. Direct messages currently operate through a central service outside the AT Protocol though future iterations aim for end-to-end encryption. Posts from platforms like Mastodon can be bridged via Bridgy Fed but interoperability discussions between Graber and Eugen Rochko remain ongoing.
Bluesky launched as an invitation-only iOS beta on the 17th of February 2023 before releasing for Android in April 2023. By September 2023 the platform reached one million registered users and surpassed two million by November. Public registration opened on the 6th of February 2024 marking a year after the initial beta launch. Registered users jumped from 3.14 million to 5.1 million within one month following public access. An Elon Musk Event occurred in August 2024 when over four million users joined after Twitter was blocked in Brazil. The platform hit ten million users by mid-September 2024 and thirteen million by late October. Following the 5th of November 2024 US presidential election daily signups averaged around one million reaching fifteen million by November 13. By January 2025 registered users totaled thirty million while unique posters peaked at levels four times higher than the previous year. However activity declined steadily after January 2025 with daily active users dropping forty percent by September 2025 to reach 1.5 million.
Users can send three hundred character text messages images and videos within short posts known colloquially as skeets despite CEO disapproval. The platform offers domain-based handles allowing users to verify identity through DNS records like washingtonpost.com using their own domain name. A marketplace of algorithms lets users choose or create custom feeds filtering content by type such as media-rich posts. Starter packs introduced in June 2024 allow quick following of related communities while third-party tools help publish and find these feeds. Moderation services include Ozone open-sourced in March 2024 enabling labels that alert or hide posts based on user-defined policies. Direct messaging launched in May 2024 supporting text replies and emoji reactions. Anti-toxicity features added in August 2024 let users detach quote posts from originals and hide replies. Trending Topics appeared in beta in December 2024 before evolving into an Explore feature in April 2025. Account verification
support arrived the 21st of April 2025 with Trusted Verifiers displaying scalloped blue checkmarks alongside standard circular ones.
Bluesky began requiring age verification in July 2025 to comply with the UK Online Safety Act 2023 using Kids Web Services provided by Epic Games. Users under eighteen cannot view adult content or use direct messages without verification. In Mississippi access was blocked entirely on the 22nd of August 2025 due to HB 1126 before being restored on the 8th of December 2025 with restrictions for minors. Age verification also implemented in South Dakota Wyoming Ohio Tennessee and Virginia throughout late 2025 and early 2026. Australia required all users to verify identities via Kids Web Services starting the 8th of December 2025. Turkish courts ordered forty-four accounts blocked in April 2025 while Stockholm Center for Freedom estimated seventy-two total blocks applied through region-specific labelers. Third-party clients lacking region-based moderation support allowed some users to bypass these blocks entirely.
TechCrunch described the February 2023 beta as functional yet
bare-bones compared to Twitter. Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar called it quiet reserved thoughtful and even polite during his initial signup in April 2023. By November 2024 he declared it the most exciting place on social media despite wasting an entire day there. Christian Rowlands highlighted user control over filtering and anti-harassment features like detached quote posts. Jason Perlow noted its decentralized nature made it worth exploring for those seeking privacy-minded networks. Parnell Palme McGuinness criticized it as a microblogging site for idealists protecting themselves from divergent opinions. Pew Research Center found adoption concentrated among left-leaning news influencers with few appearing exclusively on Bluesky rather than X. A study surveyed eight hundred scientists finding Bluesky more effective for professional networking due to reduced algorithmic interference. Despite criticism about ideological echo chambers Graber emphasized openness stating the platform was for
everyone regardless of political affiliation.
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Common questions
When did Bluesky launch as an invitation-only beta?
Bluesky launched as an invitation-only iOS beta on the 17th of February 2023 before releasing for Android in April 2023. Public registration opened on the 6th of February 2024 marking a year after the initial beta launch.
Who founded Bluesky and when was it announced?
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the new initiative called Bluesky to explore decentralizing social media in 2019. Twitter hired Jay Graber to lead the effort in August 2021 and develop what became known as the Authenticated Data Experiment or ADX.
How many users does Bluesky have as of January 2025?
By January 2025 registered users totaled thirty million while unique posters peaked at levels four times higher than the previous year. However activity declined steadily after January 2025 with daily active users dropping forty percent by September 2025 to reach 1.5 million.
What is the AT Protocol architecture used by Bluesky?
The protocol's architecture centers around three main services: a Personal Data Server or PDS, a Relay, and an AppView. A PDS hosts user data within Data Repositories that utilize a Merkle tree structure and handles authentication for hosted repositories.
When did Bluesky require age verification in the UK?
Bluesky began requiring age verification in July 2025 to comply with the UK Online Safety Act 2023 using Kids Web Services provided by Epic Games. Australia required all users to verify identities via Kids Web Services starting the 8th of December 2025.