Nobody joins a social network for its architecture. An honest look at why Bluesky lags Threads, plus real ideas to close the gap.
The AT Protocol's interesting design - LittleBit
Bluesky's backend was made to be more than a social network
Bryan Newbold: Protocol engineering
A protocol engineer at the social-media platform Bluesky describes building an open protocol around a fast-growing social media platform.
Bluesky and the AT Protocol: Usable Decentralized Social Media
Bluesky is a new social network built upon the AT Protocol, a decentralized foundation for public social media. It was launched in private beta in February 2023, and has grown to over 10 million registered users by October 2024. In this paper we introduce the architecture of Bluesky and the AT Protocol, and explain how the technical design of Bluesky is informed by our goals: to enable decentralization by having multiple interoperable providers for every part of the system; to make it easy for users to switch providers; to give users agency over the content they see; and to provide a simple user experience that does not burden users with complexity arising from the system's decentralized nature. The system's openness allows anybody to contribute to content moderation and community management, and we invite the research community to use Bluesky as a dataset and testing ground for new approaches in social media moderation.
Beyond Bluesky: These are the apps building social experiences on the AT Protocol | TechCrunch
A list of AT Protocol-based, consumer-facing apps that are either built on top of Bluesky or its underlying protocol, allowing users to take back control over their social networking experiences and personal data.
feeds.social — Minimalist Bluesky Client
After Eurosky: W Social connects social network for Europe to Bluesky technology
Bluesky's AT protocol forms the basis for an increasing number of social services. Now W Social aims to establish a European network for verified users.
A Self-Authenticating Social Protocol - Bluesky
Bluesky’s mission is to drive the evolution from platforms to protocols. The conceptual framework we've adopted for meeting this objective is the "self-authenticating protocol."
Bluesky: An Open Social Web - Bluesky
We’re excited to announce that the Bluesky network is federating and opening up in a way that allows you to host your own data.
Appendix:Xanadu - AT Protocol Paper Errata and Details
A description of known problems in Bluesky PBC's paper, "Bluesky and the AT Protocol: Usable Decentralized Social Media", as well as notes on terminology changes and how Bluesky's implementation differs from that described in the paper.
bluesky-social atproto · Discussions
Explore the GitHub Discussions forum for bluesky-social atproto. Discuss code, ask questions & collaborate with the developer community.
BlueSky - The Future of Social Media
Watch BlueSky's user base grow in real-time. Innovative, decentralized social networking is here!
It's hard for non-technical people to understand that #atproto (Bluesky, and friends) really is a different breed of social software. One where our data, and connections are no longer taken hostage by the platform and we're free to store our data wherever we want
