Social media platform BlueSky has announced the removal of invite codes, making the platform and its features accessible to everyone.
BlueSky made the announcement via blog post on its Web site yesterday.
For the past year, the platform says it used invite codes as a method of regulating platform growth. The user base has now exceeded three million, up from the 65 000 mark in May 2023.
Jay Graber, CEO of BlueSky, celebrated this milestone on X, saying that opening up the platform to everyone marks a significant achievement.
“We used invites to manage growth as we built out the rails for a new kind of distributed network. Now, we’re ready to open up. There’s a lot of work ahead, but this is what we’re trying to do: get open protocol adoption for social by building something better, in service to the user,” says Graber.
The platform backed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was originally developed under the Twitter (now X) umbrella and built with a decentralised nature in mind, placing transparency and user control at the forefront.
Among the new features introduced by BlueSky is the concept of stackable moderation services. Users can subscribe to personalised feeds crafted by individuals, organisations, or groups aligned with their preferences.
“We’re excited to release the labelling services which will allow users to stack more options on top of their existing moderation preferences. This will allow other organisations and people to run their own moderation services that can account for industry-specific knowledge or specific cultural norms, among other preferences,” says the BlueSky team.
BlueSky's open social network is set to receive an upgrade this month with the introduction of 'Federation.' The feature aims to provide users with the freedom to choose and the right to leave the platform at any time.
“On Bluesky, you’ll have the freedom to choose (and the right to leave) instead of being held to the whims of private companies or black box algorithms and wherever you go, your friends and relationships can go with you,” it says.
Additional enhancements include the option to display post history, search personal posts, and select text within posts on the mobile app.
BlueSky joins the ranks of text-based social media platforms available to the public, including X, Meta’s Threads, and WhatsApp.
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