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Twitter alternatives

I am on Mastodon, but mostly to read. I have not got the hang of it yet, and unlike Twitter it is hard to follow people, and the famous people accounts also get very small numbers following. It does not display a string of posts.
 
Tero said:
I am on Mastodon, but mostly to read. I have not got the hang of it yet, and unlike Twitter it is hard to follow people, and the famous people accounts also get very small numbers following. It does not display a string of posts.
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It might be worth taking a look at some of the third-party apps, as the default app seems to be a bit limited.
 
From what I hear about it, the operability of Mastodon reminds me of Ello, and we know how that worked out.
 
I used to enjoy looking at what's trending on Twitter. But since the purchase it seems overwhelmingly negative. I don't even care about Elon Musk, but I spend much less time checking it out now than I used to.
 
There's a LOT more "For You" and "You Might Like" posts in my feed that are overwhelmingly not for me nor what I might like.
 
gerdbonk said:
There's a LOT more "For You" and "You Might Like" posts in my feed that are overwhelmingly not for me nor what I might like.
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That's what turned me off big social media. Four thousand random friend requests, news I wouldn't ever seek and whatnot garbage..

The platform itself tried way too hard to be my best friend and my contacts had drifted off to other places.
 
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I'm seeing a lot of people now saying they are moving to Bluesky, so maybe that is now winning over Mastodon?
 
Bluesky has taken off in a big way over the last couple of weeks.

Far better than Mastadon and Threads.

I am spending as much time there as on Twitter now as people I follow and interact with are moving over.
 
I've seen some concerns about the funding of Bluesky, and of course that applies to any similar alternative - who is paying for it, and why? How long will that continue and will the nature of the service change as they need to start getting a return on their investment?
 
I decided to try Bluesky and quickly found some people I followed on Twitter - Chris Brookmyre, Carol Cadwalladr and one of the first posts I saw of hers was about how Bluesky's lead investor is a crypto comany founded by Bannom's ex-business partner. Sigh.
 
I'm trying Bluesky on an iPad, and the app is fixed in portrait mode, like an iPhone, which is rather pathetic.
 
Use your browser.

I only use the app on he phone, same with twitter.
 
1 million added in the last 27 hours apparently. Since the election it's jumped from around 6 million to 17 million and seems to have reached some kind of critical mass this week.
 
Wudang said:
I decided to try Bluesky and quickly found some people I followed on Twitter - Chris Brookmyre, Carol Cadwalladr and one of the first posts I saw of hers was about how Bluesky's lead investor is a crypto comany founded by Bannom's ex-business partner. Sigh.
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I can't find that last bit. Who is Bannom? (Steve Bannon?) And who is the ex-business partner?

The interesting thing is that Bluesky was founded, in part, by Twitter and is now forming up to be serious competition with them. Twitter cut all ties when Musk took over.

Personally I'm finding Bluesky useful. I am keeping my twitter account for now, it may be useful for getting on-going information regarding wildfires, which is an issue in my life. Most of the government agencies that manage fire are not yet on Bluesky and may not be for some time as they evaluate the service for security and such. Also many people who live in rural areas lean red and may be happy to stay on twitter and seek no alternatives; those people may live near such wildfire and can be a valuable source of information on fast-developing events.

ETA: Brock Pierce, got it. As best as I can tell he helped found Blockchain Capital (invested $15 mil into Bluesky), but he doesn't seem to be involved with the company any more. https://bsky.app/profile/proptermalone.bsky.social/post/3lavlwi2g7s2c
 
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Wudang said:
Carols post

bsky.app

Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla.bsky.social)

So y’all know that the lead investor in this place is a crypto company founded by Steve Bannon’s ex-business partner, right?
bsky.app bsky.app
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She's right in that Blockchain Capital invested in Bluesky.

But seems to be wrong about the implications of that.

Brock Pierce doesn't seem to have been involved with Blockchain Capital for seven years and running. He no longer has anything to do with the company nor its investment choices. He founded it back in the day, but he's been out for some time now.

bsky.app

Dave Karpf (@davekarpf.bsky.social)

Look I enjoy a good Brock Pierce story as much as anyone. But the list of companies that he helped launch and have nothing to do with him anymore is a mile long. He isn’t a secret mastermind. He’s crypto’s most colorful failson. [contains quote post or other embedded content]
bsky.app bsky.app

bsky.app

Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)

I can see no evidence that Brock Pierce has has anything to do with Blockchain Capital LLC for many years. He is no longer listed on the company website or any of their materials. He is also not mentioned on their SEC form ADV which lists the owners and members of the fund. [contains quote post...
bsky.app bsky.app

bsky.app

Ed Bott (@edbott.com)

Finally, this post is inflammatory and, as far as I can tell, flat out wrong. My research shows Brock Pierce hasn't been involved with Blockchain Capital since at least 2017. And he's not a "Steve Bannon pal." He did a deal with Bannon at Goldman Sachs 18 years ago and got screwed.
bsky.app bsky.app
 
zooterkin said:
I've seen some concerns about the funding of Bluesky, and of course that applies to any similar alternative - who is paying for it, and why? How long will that continue and will the nature of the service change as they need to start getting a return on their investment?
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I would imagine in the beginning, the paramount objective is to increase the number of users, not to immediately try to turn a profit. If someday it becomes a viable alternative to Twitter, then they will be able to think about how to make money off it. (The "why" I assume is the same as for any other social media platform.)

I went ahead and signed up. @anaxagoras17.bsky.social
 
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