What you need to know
- Microsoft recently announced that it had joined Bluesky alongside Elon Musk's X (formerly Twitter) amid unfavorable new terms and conditions.
- The Redmond giant says the platform provides a connected digital platform that bolsters innovation and promotes its inclusivity and empowerment values.
- Windows Central and many of our staff members are also on Bluesky and are available to follow as a starter pack.
Microsoft recently announced that it has hopped onto the Bluesky train. Frank X. Chaw, Microsoft's Chief Communication Officer, made the announcement via LinkedIn, indicating, "We aspire to be where our customers, partners, and even competitors gather, engaging with them in the places they call home." Microsoft claims that it views Bluesky as more than a social network, but a platform that provides a "connected digital ecosystem" that bolsters the user experience and innovation.
Bluesky's decentralized model resonates deeply with us. Microsoft has long championed the idea of giving users control over their digital experiences (..) you’re not a passive observer; you’re an active participant in sculpting your digital world. This platform represents a new frontier in social engagement, and we are eager to contribute to its growth and vibrancy.
Frank X. Chaw, Microsoft's Chief Communication Officer
The tech giant added that the social media platform promotes a more inclusive environment, which is right up its alley in terms of inclusivity and empowerment. Advertisement hasn't been ruled out on Bluesky, but so far, the platform remains ad-free. Raising money from its investors, the social network plans to implement a subscription service to fuel a revenue stream and pay for its server running costs. Whether businesses and brands will have subscription tiers separate from regular users isn't yet known, but it will at least involve features "like higher quality video uploads or profile customizations like colors and avatar frames."
X's sinking ship
Over the past few months, X (formerly Twitter) has lost a significant number of users to alternative platforms, including Bluesky, CounterSocial, Discord, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Reddit, and Threads. The social media platform has undergone critical changes since Elon Musk acquired the company in October 2022.
After acquiring the platform and becoming the CEO, Musk merged the platform into X Corp and made some changes in the top management, including firing CEO Parag Agrawal. Consequently, X received a major overhaul, including the renaming of several features and scrapping references to bird-related terminologies.
Since then, users have taken to their social media platforms to complain about X's degraded and less-than-pleasant user experience, citing toxic rhetoric and unfavorable new terms and conditions that include the use of their data to train AI models.
Additionally, celebrities with a huge following on the platform announcing their exiting from the platform might have influenced multiple users to pull the trigger as well. Users have also transitioned to alternatives that seemingly provide a similar user experience to X.
Meta's Threads gained over 100 million users in less than a week after it launched. At the time, X (formerly Twitter) had implemented some drastic changes, capping the user's rate limit to 600 tweets per day.
