Bluesky 🦋 Hits 15M Users: The Death of Algorithm-Driven Social Media?

Welcome to this week's edition of Contently. Today, we discuss how the rise of Bluesky and user-controlled social networks might be spelling the end of algorithmic content manipulation on your favorite platforms.

But first, some short bitsfrom this past week.

This Week's News In The Content Industry

• Disney Jr. and Netflix Jr. challenge YouTube's family content dominance, reaching over 100M weekly views in U.S. Top 50 chart
• MrBeast addresses multiple controversies including workplace harassment, contestant lawsuits, and product quality concerns, impacting sponsorships and subscriber growth
• Top food creators share Thanksgiving content strategies, featuring high-production vlogs and cooking tips from Meredith Hayden, Andrew Rea, and Alison Roman
• Kylie Kelce partners with Wave Sports + Entertainment to launch "Not Gonna Lie" podcast focusing on motherhood and social media trends
• TikTok expands live shopping initiatives for holiday season, with SuperOrdinary opening new livestreaming center in LA
• AI content creation sparks debate as Meta signs ethical usage deal while Perplexity faces controversy over anthropomorphic designs and content quality

Is Bluesky 🦋 bringing back 'old' Twitter?

The new social platform Bluesky is making waves by bringing back what many loved about early Twitter - less algorithm chaos, more real connections.

Remember when social media felt more like hanging out with friends and less like fighting an algorithm? That's what Bluesky is trying to bring back, and people are loving it.

The platform, which started as Twitter's pet project, has now grown to over 15 million users who are tired of having their feeds controlled by mysterious computer programs.

What makes Bluesky different is pretty simple - you get to choose what you see.

Unlike Facebook or Instagram, where some computer decides what you should look at next, Bluesky lets you pick your own adventure. It's like going back to the good old days of social media, but with modern tech under the hood.

The timing couldn't be better. More and more people are getting fed up with how the big social networks work. They're tired of seeing posts they never asked for, ads that follow them everywhere, and content that seems designed to make them angry or anxious.

Bluesky feels like a breath of fresh air in comparison.

The Verge points out that this is part of a bigger change in how people want to use social media. We're moving away from letting computers decide what we should see and back to making those choices ourselves. It's like the difference between having someone pick your clothes for you versus choosing your own outfit - sure, the algorithm might know what's trendy, but it doesn't know what makes you comfortable.

What's really interesting is how this might change social media as we know it.

The big question is: will this last?

Our prediction? When you give users control over their experience, they tend to stick around.

TLDR:

• Bluesky has grown to 15 million users
• Users control their feeds instead of algorithms
• People are tired of traditional social media manipulation
• The platform feels more like early Twitter
• More user-controlled social networks might be coming
• Focus is on genuine connections over engagement metrics

Thank you for being part of our newsletter community - we look forward to bringing you more insights on the evolving social media landscape in our next issue!

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