July 13, 2024. It is an important date, especially in hindsight, in light of what would happen next. It is the day in which, with a post on X, Elon Musk confirms his support for Donald Trump. That support which, a few months later, would lead him to enter the President-elect’s Government, as leader of the Department of Government Efficiency.

It is also a turning point. According to a study by the Australian University of Queensland, July 13 is also the moment in which the X algorithm evolves to favor Donald Trump’s race for the White House. It is the moment, in other words, when Elon Musk’s posts begin to appear more frequently on the home page of what was once called Twitter. According to the data collected, views increased by 134%, shares by almost 240%. Musk’s profile, like all of

The cultural alternative of Bluesky: here the user chooses

Things that happen in a social media world increasingly controlled by Big Tech algorithms. It’s a process that some call TikTokization: before, to start using a social network, it was essential to start following someone, so that the update feed would take shape.

Of course, there was always an algorithm, but “only” able to choose which posts of which followed profiles to see. Today, especially thanks (or fault?) of TikTok, it is different. Just enter to start seeing posts, even from people we don’t follow: based on interests, but also on the orientation of the platform, artificial intelligence makes the selection.

This makes control easier, as well as increasing the time spent on the platforms. Meta, for example, decided some time ago to reduce the visibility of political posts on its social media: by default, the algorithm prefers other things, other topics, other themes.

It is one of the reasons why, in the now long sequence of alternatives to X that have been emerging for some time, Bluesky seems to me to be the most interesting. It is a decentralized social network, founded in 2019 by Twitter creator Jack Dorsey, which has been very successful in recent weeks, even in our country. It has exceeded 15 million users (still a few, X claims 600) and is an above all cultural alternative to X and what social media have become.

How Bluesky works

It is tiring, at first, to use Bluesky. Maybe because we are no longer so used to choosing what to see. And here is the key to the alternative: a significant part of what you see on Bluesky is the result of a precise choice by the user.

At the center is the ability to choose how your feed is organized. There is the possibility of seeing the updates in chronological order or selecting the feed you prefer: some are similar to lists divided by theme, others make a selection similar to that of the platforms’ algorithms. The difference is that the user can choose the criteria: perhaps he prefers to see only images or only content from those he follows or only posts about books

The approach is similar when it comes to content moderation. There is a dedicated team – and therefore unique moderation on the platform – but each user can select the degree of exposure to nude, violent or potentially dangerous content. There are also block lists, which allow you to no longer see updates from specific groups of accounts.

The future of social networks?

It is too early to understand where we will go, what the future will be. What is certain is that the success, albeit partial, of Bluesky is perhaps a sign of tiredness towards social media as they are today. In his newsletter Blood in the Machine, Brian Merchant writes that the migration towards Bluesky should be interpreted as a rejection of the Big Tech model. According to The Atlantic journalist Ian Bogost, the success of the platform founded by Dorsey is a stage in a process that will lead us to abandon social media. Because, he writes, “we shouldn’t talk so much.”

It seems to me that the second reading is hasty (albeit interesting). As regards the first, the signal seems clear to me. It just remains to be seen how widespread it is. In other words, how much this tiredness is not just a perception of a small group of people. The ones that Twitter, until some time ago, made feel at home.