Bluesky Social is the latest social media platform to hit headlines, with big names like New York representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez already having signed up for the beta.
With its popularity growing larger every week, we wanted to step back and see how it compares to some other social media platforms out there.
Twitter has taken a few turns since the CEO role was taken over by Elon Musk last year, with some new features popping up on the platform. We’re going to be running through some of the key differences between these social media sites so you can decide which one is worth your time.
No adverts on Bluesky
One of the biggest strengths for Bluesky is that it does not feature any adverts. The timeline on your profile is chronological and will only show content from users you follow, so you won’t have to contend with any pesky ads cropping up. This is because, right now, there is no algorithm powering the platform.
Twitter started including advertisements in 2013, with advertisements appearing in a similar format to normal Tweets but marked with a “Promoted” icon. Users can interact with ads like they would any other Tweets, including replying to them, liking them and retweeting them. Users can disable Personalised ads within their settings if they want, but this won’t necessarily result in seeing fewer ads, just less targeted ads.
No paid memberships on Bluesky
One of the biggest controversies surrounding Twitter over the last few weeks has been the decision to introduce a paid subscription service to the platform. Twitter Blue used to be a free verification badge that was used to authenticate notable accounts to other users on the platform. Now, it is a paid service that gives users a Blue tick verification and comes with a few extra features that regular users don’t have access to, such as the ability to edit your Tweets.
Currently, there are no paid membership schemes on Bluesky and it doesn’t seem likely that they will appear anytime soon. There is a possibility that a paid subscription could appear on the platform in the future, but we don’t imagine that users will have to pay for any extra features or access anytime soon
You can sign up for Twitter right now
Twitter is free to sign up for, and you can do so right now. Simply go to the Twitter website and sign up for a new account, or log into a pre-existing account.
Bluesky is a little more complicated. Technically, you can’t sign up for Bluesky unless you have an invite code, although there is an option to join a waitlist. There is no telling when you will be able to sign up after joining this waitlist, with some of our team members signing up a few weeks ago and still not hearing anything back.
This makes Bluesky a lot less accessible in comparison, as you will have to wait an indefinite amount of time before you can access the platform.
You can upload GIFs on Twitter
Twitter is a versatile social media platform, with the option to upload text, photos, videos, GIFs and more. As the platform grew it also added more features such as polls and hashtags. This gives users a lot to do on Twitter and a wider way to interact with other users.
Bluesky is still in its infancy, so it’s no surprise that it’s missing out on some key features. GIFs and hashtags are not present, there is no web version of the app available and the Dark Mode does not work automatically. Overall, it’s not brimming with as many features as Twitter at the moment, but this is likely to change as the platform evolves over time.
