Most people don’t think about where their social media actually lives.
Or who controls it.
Or what happens to their content after it’s posted.
They just accept that the stage is the stage.
But behind the scenes a handful of people decide how everything is run.
Which is visible. What gets suppressed? What is stored. What is tracked?
And if that doesn’t sit right with you, you’re not alone. That’s a little too much power for a small group of people.
Here’s the good news: A different kind of social media is starting to evolve in the background. One based on openness, transparency and user control rather than central control.
In this post, we discuss decentralized social media platforms and what they mean for social media creators.
What is decentralized social media?
Decentralized social media is a term that refers to the practice of operating social media platforms in an open network that spans multiple, self-operated servers rather than a closed network of servers that are operated by the organization that runs the platform.
It is a way to create and operate a social media platform in a way that…
- …increases security by preventing your data from being managed by that single platform server.
- …allowing you to have full control over your data.
- …protects you from censorship unless your content is harmful or involves illegal activities.
- …Includes community restraint.
When decentralized platforms are managed with blockchain, they are called Web3 platforms.
When they are designed to be interoperable with other platforms built using the same protocol, they are called federated.
Federated networks, also known as fediverse, are a network of decentralized apps designed to work seamlessly with each other.
This means you can create content from one platform and find it published on another platform created using the same protocol, allowing you to view content from multiple platforms from a single app view.
Unfortunately, the concept of decentralized platforms is a bit complex, so some platforms may not see as much interaction as others.
Still, decentralized platforms are a welcome alternative to platforms that lock users into moderate feeds, or have no problem profiting from civil unrest.
Popular Examples of Decentralized Social Media Platforms
blue sky
Bluesky is a microblogging platform similar to Twitter (X) and Threads, although its biggest competitor in the decentralized arena is Mastodon.
It was founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey when he was still CEO of Twitter and is now governed by a board chaired by current CEO Jay Garber.
Bluesky runs a proprietary decentralized network called the AT Protocol, also known as the Authenticated Transfer Protocol or simply ATProtocol.
In the AT protocol, users are given a permanent decentralized identifier (DID) when creating their account.
They are also given a configurable domain name. This is the human-readable handle (that ends in “bsky.social”) that you’re given when you set up your username on the app.
This allows apps built with the AT protocol to work as a federated network so you can use your BlueSky account to log into any other app that was built with it.
The goal is to make all AT protocol apps interoperable with each other so you can consume content from other apps on BlueSky and vice versa. It will also be possible to move your data from one app to another.
Data security and privacy are at the forefront of the concept that Bluesky is based on.
Your data is stored on Bluesky’s servers by default, but if you want to keep your data private and protected from breaches and failures, including server outages, you can also run the app on your own server (called a personal data server or PDS).
This is what differentiates BlueSky from centralized platforms like Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram.
What type of moderation does Bluesky provide?
Bluesky has been called a free speech platform because of the way it operates, but its code includes some content moderation.
This is actually one of its most powerful features. You can choose different moderation models for your feed to control what content is shown to you. You can also import these models from third parties instead of installing them yourself.
However, know that although Bluesky intends to be an open network that can’t control your data, its terms say it has the right to remove content it feels violates those terms.
What benefits does BlueSky offer content creators?
Content stability and data security are big advantages of using Bluesky compared to other platforms.
By setting up your own server, you guarantee that your content is protected from disruptions to the main BlueSky servers and widespread data breaches.
BlueSky also gives users the ability to set up custom feeds so they can control what content they see while scrolling. This means they can set up a feed that includes your account and topics related to yours to ensure they always see your content as they scroll.
As a creator, you can post text-based posts that contain up to 300 characters, images and videos that are up to 60 seconds long. You can also make threads.
Some features, like the polls you can create on Twitter (X), are missing, but you can create them with third-party apps that are built using the AT protocol, such as Poll.blue.
Ultimately, BlueSky is an ad-free network. While this means you’ll never be able to generate ad revenue from the platform, it does mean the app may become popular among consumers who are tired of ads on other platforms.
if you want Schedule a BlueSky Post Consider using SocialBee already.
It’s a social media scheduling tool that makes it easy to schedule multiple posts in advance for different platforms, including Bluesky.
It also allows you to organize and manage your content into categories.
Do consumers use BlueSky?
BlueSky opened its app to the public in 2024. now it is open Over 23 million users and 3.2 million daily active usersAccording to Theo.io and SimilarWeb.
It gets 5.4 new users every second.
Following the 2024 United States presidential election, which saw a heavy presence from former CEO Elon Musk, Bluesky usage increased by 500% in the US and 350% in the UK.
In fact, according to AppFigures, Bluesky overtook X in app downloads on November 13, 2024. During that time, it received an average of 400,000 daily downloads, while X dropped to 250,000.
According to Business of Apps, it received more than 9 million downloads in the second half of 2024.
Additionally, Bluesky gained 3 million new users after X suspended its service in Brazil and gained 1.2 million new users after
Is BlueSky a Web3 platform?
This is a matter of debate.
“Web3” is a term to describe platforms that are decentralized and operate on blockchain networks.
However, while Bluesky Is A decentralized platform, it does not run on the blockchain network.
This has led some to call Bluesky a “crypto-free Web3 platform”.
It is more accurate to say that Bluesky is a decentralized platform that works as a federated network powered by the AT protocol.
mastodon
While Bluesky has received more media coverage and support due to its relationship with former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Mastodon was the original Twitter competitor that was built on the idea of creating a decentralized social media app that behaved like Twitter but was not controlled by a single organization.
Mastodon is built with the ActivityPub protocol, a decentralized protocol designed specifically for social media networks.
Unlike Bluesky, Mastodon did not create its own protocol. This makes it a more open platform than Bluesky as it uses a well-known decentralized protocol instead of a proprietary version.
Like BlueSky, any user can run their own Mastodon server. Over 950,000 monthly active users run over 8,500 servers on the platform.
What benefits does Mastodon provide content creators?
Mastodon, as a true decentralized platform, does not collect your data, although it does warn that the server you sign up with may have a different policy.
Luckily, you can run your own server if you want to keep your content secure and your data private.
Along with custom feeds, a great feature of Mastodon is to return to a chronological timeline and only see posts from accounts you follow in your home feed.
So, instead of waiting for algorithms to put your content in your followers’ feeds, they’ll see it in their home feed along with content from all the other creators they follow.
For content creation, Mastodon has a variety of different options, including text-based posts, images, videos, polls, thumbnail crop controls, custom emoji, and more.
One drawback about Mastodon is that each server’s approach is different.
Each server has its own rules and regulations regarding what content is allowed. Although you can create your own blocklists, you will still be limited by the rules of whatever server you choose if you don’t run your own server.
On the other hand, it can be seen as an advantage if you find a server that has moderation rules that you agree with.
Overall, Mastodon is an amazing alternative to Twitter and a great competitor to BlueSky.
Less Popular Decentralized Social Media Apps
- lens protocol – a blockchain social media app backed by the Ethereum cryptocurrency
- Mind – an ActivityPub-based social media app that uses Bitcoin and Ethereum
- dtube – A decentralized alternative to YouTube
- mirror – a web3-based publishing platform
- Steemit – A decentralized app designed to work like Reddit
final thoughts
Decentralized social media is still in its infancy, but it is rapidly growing in popularity due to the way some of the most popular social platforms are operated.
The concept is fresh.
So, if you haven’t considered using this type of platform, I highly recommend it.
Even if you can’t focus specifically on one of them, you can always use a social scheduler like Virally or Socialbee to cross post content created for other platforms.
This way, you can immediately start building a presence on a platform like BlueSky without investing too much time on the platform.
Pro Tip: Socialbee is one of the only social media schedulers that offers a method of scheduling content for apps that don’t have API integration. This is like the notification reminder system that schedulers used to do for Instagram before they added direct scheduling to their API. This is very good.
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