X rival and social media platform Bluesky now boasts over 2 million users, as announced by the team on Thursday. A year after its creation, the Jack Dorsey-backed app marked the milestone while detailing its pending plan of creating a “a truly open social network” — and adding a major feature from Twitter.
Bluesky, a decentralized social media app, is set to add a public web interface, which means users will be able to view posts without being logged in on an account — Bluesky currently still requires an invite code to sign up to its platform. It’s a replication of what was once a main feature of Twitter/X, and something that owner Elon Musk has gone back and forth on.
The company also said its “biggest priority” is its federation phase, which will allow individuals to set up their own servers using Bluesky’s open source network AT Protocol, with the intention of giving more power and control to users over their own online spaces. Ultimately, users will be able to connect with anyone using AT Protocol, which could have an endless array of applications.
“This is one of the core features of Bluesky that makes it ‘billionaire-proof’ — you’ll always have the freedom to choose (and to exit) instead of being held to the whims of private companies or black box algorithms,” reads Bluesky’s blog post. “And wherever you go, your friends and relationships will be there too.”
More features coming to the platform include push notifications for your phone, user lists, suggested follows, email 24A verification, more thread sorting preferences, improved loading time, and accessibility upgrades including improved alt text, screen flashing, and component labels.
By making posts more accessible and adding more features, Bluesky appears intent on reaching bigger audiences and accelerating growth, giving it a higher chance of truly being an alternative to Musk’s X. The platform has seen record sign-ups in tandem with changes at X: in September, when Musk announced that all users will face a small monthly payment, thousands of users joined Bluesky.
