Bluesky and the Power of Your Own Domain Name
With the option of using your own domain name as a username, Bluesky becomes extra appealing.
The ambitions expressed by the social network Bluesky bring hope. In addition to its own network, the company is building a technical way to communicate, a so-called "protocol" called AT. This protocol is published in the open, enabling other organizations to create their own, independent platforms that can seamlessly communicate with Bluesky. The hope is that you will never lose your social media connections and posts again, and if you play your cards right: not even your username.
You can already – now – verify your identity and boost trust by having your own domain name as your username. And this costs nothing if you already have a domain name. The username can then continue to work even if in the future you move to another platform that uses the same "protocol".
For example, my username on Bluesky is @axbom.com, the same domain name as this blog.
The idea is this: if you are not satisfied with the way the platform is operated, or if it's being shut down for some reason, you could potentially move to another platform and keep your account name, contacts and posts. Something you probably wish you could have done with X/Twitter and other social media you've left over the years.
Note that this ambition has not been realized all the way yet, but let's dare to believe in Bluesky's statements for now, and let's assume they really are – as they say – wanting to "move the social web to protocols, instead of platforms". This means never locking you in and always willing to help you leave.
As an example of this more open culture Bluesky has also stated that they in no way have an algorithm that "punishes" anyone who links out to their own blog. On the contrary, they want you to link and share content to other sites. Yes, the way we probably imagine social media should behave, and more often did more than a decade ago.
Journalists should have verified accounts – for obvious reasons
If you are a company that wants to establish itself on Bluesky, then don't miss the chance to opt early for having your domain name as your username. It took me only a few minutes to set up.
I'm thinking especially of all the media organizations that are finally(!) abandoning X/Twitter. This provides a great opportunity to enable a verified channel and to verify usernames for journalists. Sweden's daily newspaper DN could easily have @dn.se as their username, and the editor-in-chief Peter Wolodarski could then have @wolodarski.dn.se as his username on Bluesky. In addition to boosting trustworthiness, this makes it more difficult for fraudsters to try to assume someone else's identity.
And I'd certainly expect tech journalist Jason Koebler to soon change his username to @jason.404media.co, given that they've already set up @404media.co.
Bluesky's CEO, since 2021, is a woman named Jay Graber. What I have seen of her statements so far feels like an honest intent to create a platform that takes into account the wellbeing of users, and their freedom of choice. The fact that few seem to know of her appears to be part of a conscious strategy not to make the CEO a figurehead and symbol.
I'm not naive - as Bluesky grows, there will be a lot of harassment, pile-ons and crises. And there has been some of that already. How Graber and her team act is during these times is something that many will be keeping their eye on. And yes, Blockchain Capital, with most of its other investments in the crypto world, is the main investor. This is far from trust-inducing, and while Bluesky right now do not use blockchain or cryptocurrency – or scrape user content for AI training, the future of how investors will want see returns is yet to be written.
Jack Dorsey? Yes, he was a key player in the beginning but has now deleted his account on Bluesky and has no ownership left either. He has fully swallowed the vision of X/Twitter as the platform of freedom. I personally see his departure from Bluesky as purely positive.
Eggs in all baskets
I of course won't be leaving the Fediverse (Mastodon et. al), where I enjoy most of my interactions immensely. But unfortunately the experience of getting started there is still not intuitive and user-friendly, nor is it easy to search and find content or users across instances. It's simply something else.
Bluesky is straightforward for more people, and I'm cautiously hopeful about their expressed ambitions and values with regards to the internet, tech and social connections - which broadly align with my own. So I'm giving Bluesky a go as well – and using my own domain name gives me flexibility and options in the future. Even if the AT protocol doesn't become as popular as Bluesky hopes, nobody can take my domain name away from me - it's still a reliable way to find me as social networks come and go. It's resilient.
If Fediverse hasn't been an option for you, chances are Bluesky could be the one if you're looking for community in the style of what Twitter was in its very early days. Just remember to keep an eye on your own wellbeing.
