After numerous controversies surrounding X, some Internet users are looking for an alternative to the short message service that was once called Twitter. A relatively new star in the sky of social media platforms is Bluesky. But not everyone has access at the moment. So how do you become part of what is currently a relatively exclusive club?
Although there are free Bluesky apps for Android smartphones and iPhones in the respective stores, interested parties need either relationships or patience to create an account: an invitation code currently has to be entered when creating the account. However, new users only get this from users who are already registered. “Bluesky uses invitations to build a healthier community,” says the platform’s website as justification.
For quick access, you can ask your friends whether anyone has such a code left. If you can’t find one, you’ll have to wait a little longer and add your email address to a waiting list on the Bluesky website. After clicking on the “Create a new account” button and another click on “Next”, you will find the “Join the waitlist” option here.
The team behind Bluesky warns against responding to dubious offers involving alleged invitation codes online: “We strongly advise against selling or buying invitation codes. We cannot verify the legitimacy of these offers and many of the claims we investigate are Fake claims and manipulated screenshots posted on other platforms.”
But the activation of new accounts has apparently been given a lot of momentum recently. The project was started in 2019 by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey (46), who was still CEO of the company at the time. A small team began working on an open and decentralized standard for social media. The Bluesky platform, which entered a beta phase at the beginning of the year, is now based on this.
On September 12th, the platform’s blog said that there should now be a million users. The focus is on “preparing for the opening and getting the network into a state that can support many more users.” Around a month later, there was already talk of 1.5 million users – and that the user base was growing rapidly.
Elon Musk (52) was once perceived by many as a kind of quirky visionary, but this perception has now changed drastically. After the entrepreneur’s high-profile takeover of the short message service Twitter last year, there have been frequent complaints in recent months about increasing numbers of hate comments, the spread of fake news and a shift to the right on the platform, which is now called X.
The federal anti-discrimination agency announced that it would be leaving X a few weeks ago. “As a state institution, the anti-discrimination agency has a role model function. Ministries and state agencies should ask themselves whether it is still acceptable to remain on a platform that has become a disinformation network and whose owner spreads anti-Semitic, racist and populist content,” explained Ferda Ataman (43), Independent Federal Commissioner for Anti-Discrimination.
