Social media algorithms can do wonderful things. They have the power to make or break careers, amplify political polarization (Facebook, Twitter), make people do stupid things for clicks (YouTube), and promote so-called Chinese communist ideals to our children (TikTok, though that’s for the record). discussion).
However, Bluesky tries something different: you choose them. On May 26, the developers of the platform rolled out My Feeds, a feature that allows people to decide what they see. There are 50 such feeds available on the platform, which is in beta mode. Options range from feeds featuring the most popular posts to feeds that specialize in showing only cats, nudes, lewds, or photos of sitcom puppet Alf.
It’s a move that fits Bluesky’s decentralized vibe. In March, CEO Jay Graber said the company would replace the “master algorithm” favored by its rivals with “an open and diverse ‘marketplace of algorithms’.”
Currently, creating a feed requires some technical know-how, but Bluesky developer Paul Frazee previously predicted that it will become easier for users to generate their own feeds.
As a casual Bluesky user who recently started trying the platform, it’s pretty good. In fact, it could arguably represent a new era of social media where users, not platform managers, are empowered to see what they want. Don’t want to see the Elon fanboys? That’s not necessary. Want to see every popular tweet mentioning K-pop? You could. “It’s a big step in the right direction,” said Noah Giansiracusa, a professor who researches algorithms at Bentley University in Massachusetts. “We need more flexibility and more user choice.”
It would be a stark departure from where Twitter is headed, where it’s getting harder and harder to find the good messages among the blue check marks. Then there are the algorithmically dictated choices presented to you on a whim by Elon Musk’s constantly changing What’s New feed. In January it was menswear man; this week, AI brethren ask what would happen if we made humanity’s greatest works of art bigger and also worse. In short, your Twitter experience is probably not what you want it to be.
That’s why Bluesky’s willingness to hand the reins to users seems so refreshing. “It feels like a marriage of Reddit and Twitter, against this decentralized Web 3.0 backdrop,” said Jess Maddox, an assistant professor at the University of Alabama and an expert on Internet culture.
Maddox is one of the Bluesky users who added “Cat Pics”, described by its creator as “a feed of cat pictures from the entire network (sometimes no cats)” to her feed. She equates it to something akin to scratching a cat’s itch by subscribing to a cat subreddit and directing cat photos.
Maddox welcomes the option to choose different flavors of Bluesky. While the platform still has its flaws, she says, the ability to choose feeds gives people more ownership over what they see feels refreshing. “People can be in charge of their own experiences and have a little more control over the kind of craziness they encounter.”
