Everyone reading this -- sign up for Bluesky, help it build up a larger network effect, so it can outcompete X. It already has 30m users.
These platforms are massively net-negative for the vast majority of people.
Go outside!
"In theory", because so far, there are very few nodes (one?), very few (if any?) alternative implementations, most is controlled and operated by a small team paid for by a.o. Jack Dorsey and other funds. Mastodon (using the ActivityPub protocol) has one main repo, managed by one person under a non-profit that also operates the biggest instance. But also has dozens of other implementations in other languages, with other niches, with more, less, other features and so on.
So, "best bet" would probably be to:
- Sign up at both a Mastodon and Bsky. Try them both for while.
- See which one fits your needs, style and practical needs best. Stick with that one.
I wouldn't let that stop you from signing up for bluesky -- in my experience it is definitely the best of the options for a twitter alternative -- but you should know exactly what it is you're getting into before you get into it.
And if you want to know exactly what you're getting into with bluesky, you should read this, which tells you more than you really want to know: https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/
> And at present, there's really only one each of the Relay and (Twitter-like) AppView components used in practice, but there is a real possibility of this changing and real architectural affordance work to allow it. So perhaps things to not seem all that bad.
There can be only one winner I presume.
(other than grumpy old neckbeards bickering over their Prefered Thing and blocking any progress towards cooperation or interoperability. Which is actually a thing in "The Fediverse" even right now. Yes, really. A few loud voices manage to bully down projects that build bridges between both.)
Mastodon has failed to show any signs of hitting a critical mass so I kind of feel like it's a different level of social network altogether. A lot more durable and worth making an effort with but unlikely to ever become much more significant than it currently is.
At best it's less toxic, but only marginally. They implemented even more dunk mechanisms that X has, so it's primed to be a terrible place long-term.
User-owned, federated social media is absolutely the safest bet if you want low toxicity and freedom from corporate control.
I also didn't like that I had 30 different followers the moment I signed up.
No they don't, blue-sky belongs to the former twitter owner, aka THE BUBBLE ;)
BTW: He was not welcomed at FOSDEM because he is billionaire, when a movement eats itself ;)
https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares...
Minorities with loud voices always wins because people don't want to deal with bullshit