Bluesky: The Decentralized Social Media App with 30 Million Users

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Alex Xu • Published 3 months ago • 1 min read

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Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform built on the Authenticated Transfer Protocol (AT Protocol), designed to give users control over their identity, data, and content moderation. Unlike centralized platforms, Bluesky uses a federated architecture with Personal Data Servers (PDS), Relays, and App Views to ensure discoverability, portability, and customizable content feeds. With 30 million users, Bluesky aims to solve issues like platform lock-in, opaque algorithms, and censorship while maintaining usability.

Core Technical Concepts/Technologies

AT Protocol – Federated protocol for decentralized social applications.
Personal Data Servers (PDS) – Host user data and authentication (like Git repositories).
Relays – Global content aggregators/indexers for discoverability.
App Views – Customizable feed generators and moderation layers.
Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) – Cryptographic IDs for portable user identities.
Separation of Speech & Reach – Content exists but visibility is controlled.

Main Points

Decentralization Benefits
- Avoids single-entity control over data, algorithms, and moderation.
- Solves migration issues (users retain identity/followers

In this article, we will look at Bluesky’s architecture and its use of the AT protocol to make things possible.

This article was originally published on ByteByteGo

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