Two decentralized social media platforms, Bluesky and Farcaster, have opened their services to the general public in recent weeks as part of a broader movement to provide viable alternatives to mainstream sites like Twitter.
Bluesky, backed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, ended nearly a year of invite-only beta testing on Tuesday by allowing free signups without a code. The Twitter-esque platform runs on the uncensorable AT Protocol that prevents data collection. Users will eventually transfer personal data across federated servers.
Positioning itself as a user-focused option after Elon Musk’s controversial Twitter takeover, Bluesky has attracted over 3 million users in beta. It now seeks to convert that initial interest into durable growth.
Meanwhile, the crypto-centric platform Farcaster has seen exponential growth following the launch of in-app features like NFT minting and gaming. Catering to tech savvies, Farcaster has 139,000 registered users per on-chain data.
The recent momentum of both Bluesky and Farcaster taps into user disenchantment with Twitter under Musk. Multiple alternative social apps have centered their appeals on concepts like decentralization and anti-censorship.
Yet toppling Twitter, with its entrenched 500 million monthly active user base, remains an uphill climb. High-profile figures who joined Bluesky early on, like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and actor Kumail Nanjiani, have not posted in months.
Sustaining initial user signups is another hurdle decentralized social startups face. As Bluesky exits invite-only mode to attract the masses, industry watchers will monitor whether it can translate buzz into loyal community growth. Its success could determine whether decentralization goes mainstream in social media.
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