Bluesky: Decentralization Done Right
Bluesky is a social media platform designed to be decentralized, meaning it’s not controlled by a single company or organization.
Here is my attempt at explaining how it works using the analogy of a Feed Reader…
Centralized Social Media Platforms (X, Facebook, Threads…)
These are equivalent to a single feed reader where:
• You can only subscribe to content from one source (e.g., one specific website or service).
• The feed reader controls which feeds you can view, how they’re presented, and whether you can access them at all.
• If the feed reader company decides to change its rules, limit features, or shut down, you lose all your subscriptions and access to content.
This is similar to how centralized platforms like X/Twitter work. Everything is controlled by a single entity, including the rules, algorithms, and data.
Bluesky as a Decentralized Platform
Now imagine a different kind of feed reader where:
You control your content: your own feed (called a “repo”) on Bluesky is stored on a Personal Data Server (PDS). You can have it hosted at Bluesky (by default), or can run your own PDS. It is not difficult, 15-year old Jack did it!
You control your experience: You decide which feeds to follow and how to organize them. If you don’t like one feed provider, you can move to another without losing your subscriptions or content.
The feed reader uses an open protocol: The system is based on shared standards, so any compatible feed can work with it, no matter who provides it. Even if one server goes down, your subscriptions to other feeds are unaffected.
Bluesky operates on a similar principle using the AT Protocol (Authenticated Transfer Protocol), which is an open standard for decentralized social networks. Instead of a single company controlling everything, anyone can set up a server and participate in the network. Users can move between servers while keeping their data, identity, and followers intact.
But… There is only one Social Network app running on ATProto, so it is centralized!
Bluesky PBC (or Public Benefit Corporation) is the company that created all this, and provides the current service. As such, it is indeed the only social network app at the moment. So in that sense, it looks like it is centralized, but it is not - the technology is ready. We just need someone to fork this repo, and run it!
There are other apps using Atproto, for example:
WhiteWind: A long-form blogging platform that allows users to publish and share extensive articles, integrating seamlessly with the AT Protocol network.
Frontpage: A social news website inspired by platforms like Hacker News, enabling users to share and discuss news articles and topics within the AT Protocol framework.
Check out Awesome Atproto for more !
Why Decentralization Matters
• Resilience: If one server (or organization) fails or decides to impose unfair rules, users can simply switch to another server without losing their identity or connections.
• Freedom and Control: Users own their data and can interact with the network on their terms, much like how a feed reader allows you to curate your content without being beholden to a single website.
In essence, Bluesky is trying to transform social media into something more open, flexible, and user-centric—like giving everyone the power of their own customizable feed reader.
So, where do I start?
When you register an account on Bluesky, you are given both a Feed Reader, and a Feed Hosting provider, so your data physically sits in one of Bluesky’s PDS (called after mushrooms).
To host your own data, you simply have to set up your own PDS (Personal Data Server). Here are a few tutorials to get you set up:
https://github.com/bluesky-social/pds?tab=readme-ov-file#self-hosting-pds
Hostinger : https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/how-to-host-a-bluesky-pds
I hope this helped! You can find me on Bluesky if you want to mingle ! 🦋