Now Bluesky's Jay Graber is simply lying.
“If a billionaire came in and bought Bluesky and took it over, or I decided tomorrow to change things in a way that people didn’t really like, then they could fork off and go on to other applications.”
https://observer.com/2025/03/bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-wants-world-without-caesars/
Of course, this makes absolutely no sense, but tech media dutifully just prints it.
What does "fork off and go on to other applications" mean?
What is it she is even saying?
Getting really tired of this gaslighting BS.
Let's get real. If a billionaire comes in and buys #Bluesky, the 30 million users who have fled there from other toxic platforms will be stuck on the billionaire Bluesky toxic platform. Sure, they can "fork off" and make a Mastodon account on the Fediverse, but that's their only option.
This 'billionaire proof' marketing campaign of hers is not only disingenuous, it is false advertising, and should give everyone pause.
Instead of lapping up Jay Graber's nonsense, tech media should ask her some real questions:
Who owns #Bluesky?
Who and in what percentages?
Any outstanding debt or other convertible obligations?
What happened with the Bain Capital funding round announced in early January by Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/x-competitor-bluesky-valuation-new-funding-round-2025-1?op=1) valuing the company at $700M?
Did it close?
If so, how much was invested? Who were the investors?
@mastodonmigration I don't expect any technology I'm using now to be the tech I'm still going to want 5 or 10 years from now, whether it's my PC, my GIS software, or my social network. If it is, great! If not, I'll adapt.
I happen to like it here *and* at Bluesky. I've conceded that I'm never going to get a majority of my connections onto Mastodon as it currently exists. I tried. I understand the issue isn't "What's wrong with them" but "What is keeping Mastodon from becoming mainstream?"
What about email?
@mastodonmigration What about email? I don't have the same email address that I had when I first started using email. I needed to change my address and inform all my contacts that my address changed. Even though the underlying protocol is the same.
But as I said, if I can use the same underlying technology as I did 10 years ago, great! But I'm not going to freak out if I need to move to something else.
@mastodonmigration "You should commit to a platform that you' find more difficult to figure out and less welcoming because another platform you like more may not be around in a few years" IMO is not a compelling argument for a lot of people. YMMV.
Clearly that is true, since people are in fact joining Bluesky in greater numbers.
Again, that doesn't address the false information that the Bluesky CEO is pitching about the platform being 'billionaireproof'.
@mastodonmigration I think it's the protocol that's billionaire-proof, not necessarily the specific implementation at Bluesky? I probably couldn't make my own fork there the way I could sign up for a service to create my own instance here. But it seems like it would be possible for people with more knowledge and resources.
Anyway, thanks for engaging. These days, I'm always happy for pleasant, non-hostile discussions with people I don't agree with 100%