Updated on October 18, 2024: X Creative Community Faces Mass Exodus! Bluesky User Base Surpasses 100,000
Elon Musk recently announced his plan to develop the “most powerful AI” by the end of this year. In light of this, the social media platform X has recently announced modifications to its user privacy policy, sparking a mass exodus from the creative community on X.
The new policy, set to take effect on November 15th, will include a default clause stating that “users uploading content unconditionally agree to allow X to provide it for AI training.” This means that after these adjustments, the works of creators on the platform may be imitated by AI, leading many Japanese illustrators, VTubers, voice actors, and game developers who cannot tolerate this to migrate to the new social community platform “Bluesky” or other platforms resembling Twitter.
Bluesky has reported a growth of over 100,000 users within 12 hours, with a continuous increase rate of 10 registered users per second. Many users have reported an influx of users on the platform, causing the login screen to display “Unable to connect to the service, please check your internet connection,” and users from around the world have reported difficulties logging in.
The following is the original report from May 4, 2023.
Is it good or bad that Twitter was sold to Musk? How does the founder view him?
Since selling Twitter to Musk, does Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey believe Musk is the best manager for Twitter? This is his response:
“I don’t think so. And I don’t think he took the right actions after realizing the timing was wrong.”
Although Dorsey criticized Musk, he also softened his stance, acknowledging that as a publicly traded company, Twitter could not escape the clutches of Wall Street financial giants.
A user on Bluesky asking Dorsey a question
Image / TechCrunch
According to TechCrunch, a user named Jason Goldman from the decentralized community platform Bluesky asked Dorsey on the platform, “Do you think Musk has proven himself to be the best manager for Twitter?” Dorsey replied, “No, and I don’t think he took the right actions after realizing the timing was wrong.” This implies that he believes Musk’s decisions after taking over Twitter did not assist the company in the right direction.
However, there are also differing opinions. The Washington Post believes that Dorsey’s remarks were made to avoid self-blame, which Dorsey strongly disagrees with, as he has previously apologized for Twitter multiple times.
Although Dorsey believes that Twitter’s performance under Musk’s leadership has been poor, he also blames the Twitter board of directors, accusing the forced sale as one of the main reasons for Twitter’s current state. Dorsey wrote on Bluesky, “Twitter couldn’t survive as a publicly traded company unless you’re willing to let hedge funds and Wall Street radicals own it.”
Further reading:
After nearly four years! Twitter-backed decentralized social community “Bluesky” goes live, why is the market not optimistic?
Why did Dorsey change his mind about Musk, whom he initially considered a savior?
Dorsey’s evaluation of Musk has taken a sharp turn.
On April 26th last year, Dorsey wrote on Twitter that he believed Musk is the only answer he trusts. He supported Musk’s various visions for Twitter, including reaching 1 billion users, combating fake accounts and misinformation, opening algorithms, and becoming a super platform like WeChat. However, Dorsey later responded to that tweet, indicating that he made those statements to prevent Twitter from falling into the hands of more radical hedge fund managers.
The tweet that once considered Musk the only solution for Twitter now seems particularly ironic.
Although the acquisition process was tumultuous, and Musk could have paid $1 billion to terminate the acquisition, the deal was ultimately completed in October last year for $44 billion. After Musk took over, he made various changes to Twitter, including cost-cutting measures, launching various subscription plans, and opening algorithms. Although these measures achieved cost-saving, controversies led to the departure of many celebrity users.
According to Business Insider, hate speech on Twitter has increased since the acquisition. Although Musk promised to establish a content moderation committee to determine how and whether to delete harmful posts, it has not been established to this day. He also conducted a poll among users on whether he should resign, stating that he would follow the survey results. However, as Twitter’s current CEO, he remains very active.
What is Bluesky and how is it different from Twitter?
Bluesky is an application developed separately by Dorsey during his time at Twitter. The platform operates independently of Twitter. Like the previously popular Clubhouse, Bluesky also requires an invitation code to use, which has made users even more eager for the platform, as they want what they can’t have.
According to Bloomberg, Bluesky has a similar appearance and usage as Twitter, with a slightly different interface. The difference is that it is a “decentralized” social media platform.
Bluesky is not like Facebook or Twitter; it is a behind-the-scenes interface that allows any social media plug-in, enabling users to maintain their identities and connections across services. This means that users can switch from one hosting service to another while retaining their followers and content.
The concept of decentralization allows users to compare and choose the best interface or content moderation options, reducing their reliance on any single service provider and giving them more control over data usage.
Dorsey previously wrote on Twitter, “In principle, I don’t think anyone should own or operate Twitter. It should be a public product at the protocol level, not a company.” Perhaps this idea can be realized in Bluesky.
Sources: Washington Post, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Business Insider, USAToday, Editor-in-charge: Lin Meixin
