Technology

True, though BlueSky is a temporary redoubt at best, though one which, through switching costs, will trap people just as Xitter did. They accepted venture capital funds, and so when the time comes, will have to somehow recoup that from their users. At the moment, they’re in the glue-trap phase, attracting their users with promises to be open and not screw them over (see also: the early days of Facebook). Once enough are there, and have brought their friends and built personally meaningful networks dependent on BlueSky, the trap will close: third-party APIs will be restricted to the point of not providing an escape (as happened with Reddit and Xitter), the user-configurable algorithms will get unremovable additions that gradually increase the amount of ads, influencer content, AI pink-slime and whatever else they want in your feed, and then you’ll lose the ability to see all the content you selected, all the better to keep you refreshing and scrambling for anything you may have missed. And then, since all your friends and the cool people you follow are there, your choices will be to stay and suck it up, or effectively become a hermit.