X / Twitter alternatives Threads, Bluesky take off
Two Twitter alternatives Threads and Bluesky have each gained tens of millions of followers in the last month or so.
X / Twitter alternatives Threads, Bluesky take off
Bluesky now has nearly 25 million users since the US election and X/Twitter owner Musk’s involvement caused some longtime users to exit.
But Meta’s Threads may be the real success story.
“Threads strong momentum continues, it’s now 300M+ monthly actives and 100M+ daily actives,” posted Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg.
Threads had 130 million monthly active users as of February of this year and hit 275 million at the end of October.
Threads vs Bluesky
Threads and Bluesky have distinct characteristics and approaches. Here’s a comparison:
1. Ownership and Origin
- Threads: Developed by Meta (formerly Facebook), Threads is closely tied to Instagram. It aims to compete with Twitter by leveraging Meta’s massive user base and resources.
- Bluesky: A decentralized social media platform backed initially by Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter. It operates independently and is focused on a federated, user-controlled model.
2. Decentralization
- Threads: Currently centralized under Meta’s control. However, Meta has expressed intentions to integrate ActivityPub, which could allow Threads to interact with decentralized networks like Mastodon in the future.
- Bluesky: Fully decentralized from its inception, using the AT Protocol. This means users can choose their servers and have more control over their data.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
