Who owns Bluesky?
The curious mystery of the Bluesky Series B funding round.
Did it happen?
If you look at pitchbook (https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/484831-81) it seems Bluesky closed a whopping $97 million funding round resulting in a $700M valuation in January 2025. VCpedia lists Greylock, alumni ventures and Skyseed as participants (https://vcpedia.com/rounds/5195).
The interesting thing is there are no press releases or other media coverage confirming this financing.
Read on...
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Bluesky Corporation have just started hosting and verified the US agency ICE:
https://bsky.app/profile/icegov.bsky.social
In other words, Bluesky are collaborating with racist violent thugs and murderers.
How to block #Bluesky #FediHelp
1. Go to the profile page of the account 
@bsky.brid.gyBridgy Fed for Bluesky
2. Click ⋯
3. Click "Block Domain" to stop seeing Bluesky accounts
4. Click "Block" to prevent your own account being bridged to Bluesky
You may need to copy-paste @bsky.brid.gyBridgy Fed for Bluesky into the search box on your server to make the profile appear.
If you can't find the account @bsky.brid.gyBridgy Fed for Bluesky, your server is probably already blocking the Bluesky bridge.
Bluesky Corporation have just started hosting and verified the US agency ICE:
https://bsky.app/profile/icegov.bsky.social
In other words, Bluesky are collaborating with racist violent thugs and murderers.
Really getting the sense that the Bluesky team does not want to run a social media site.
@stefanStefan Bohacek commenters seem to be upset about a high profile account that was suspended arbitrarily, any idea who? In a way, glad my time isn't sucked up in #Bluesky politics, because that would have been time I wouldn't have spent IRL #organising (litterally). More and more grateful to the Fedi every day
Just a CEO of a hot new social media platform calling its users freeloaders and telling them to stop posting, hm.
Really getting the sense that the Bluesky team does not want to run a social media site.
Blacksky has already built their own ATProto stack that's fully independent from Bluesky.
Now Eurosky is making progress as they roll out their own PDS.
I see more independent infrastructure springing up on https://atp.fyi/network, including AppViews.
For anyone hoping that we'll get another wave of people coming to the fediverse once Bluesky folds/enshittifies, that might not necessarily be the case as people will have more options to stay in the Atmosphere.
Reading notes from the event that mention how Twitter was an improvement over RSS in terms of user experience.
Another good example would be people switching from pirating media over to signing up for streaming services. It was the easier option.
With Blacksky recently achieving full independence from Bluesky, and other projects following behind, it'll be interesting to see who will handle federation better.
http://scripting.com/2026/01/30/150403.html
#fediverse #federation #SocialMedia #bluesky #atmosphere #ATProto
Case in point, from a recent AT Protocol developer call:
> "choose a PDS host" is a surefire way to lose the user
Also interesting, some thoughts on sustainability and funding for ATProto apps:
> "I think eventually there are going to have to be more paid levels of atproto apps. I know I can't logically continue to burn money to support the infra indefinitely."
https://nate.leaflet.pub/3mdtlv2422c2i
#fediverse #bluesky #atmosphere #ATProto #SocialMedia #sustainability
Ooo! I got a Bluesky account suspension. I feel I've unlocked a Steam Achievement.
Just to be clear to the drongos... my stories are fiction. They're not real. It's all made up. If the magic alien transforming crystal that gives super-powers wasn't a clue, I'm telling you now... none of the characters exist, it's not based on anything from real life. It's fiction.
The wonderful 
@QPtheSnepMOVED TO: QuyetPawz.tech.lgbt has put together some resources on #MutualAid. You can find them here:
#Mastodon: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ApmCyXr_Pb5BGM3NiWuYlEDrC6goJ9HJBPCha6emrJM/edit?usp=drivesdk
#Bluesky: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PiinKdlyHoikHA3pqPgCzfvmnIfT8wCSqQS1d0K_TfE/edit?usp=drivesdk
Some interesting fediverse-related talks at this year's #FOSDEM open-source conference.
Live stream: https://live.fosdem.org/watch/h2215
Schedule: https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/track/social-web/
Reading notes from the event that mention how Twitter was an improvement over RSS in terms of user experience.
Another good example would be people switching from pirating media over to signing up for streaming services. It was the easier option.
With Blacksky recently achieving full independence from Bluesky, and other projects following behind, it'll be interesting to see who will handle federation better.
http://scripting.com/2026/01/30/150403.html
#fediverse #federation #SocialMedia #bluesky #atmosphere #ATProto
Is social media its own thing or is it an attention layer for the open web? Is it mostly about these separate things we call posts, or should every piece of writing or audio or video be able to be boosted itself?
I think that's the divide between #ATproto and #ActivityPub. #bluesky wants to dominate a world of posts like Gmail dominates email etc. Social running on a protocol but one company decides most people's experience. Or should we give the public full control over what media goes viral?
#atproto #bluesky Why is this account rendered as invalid handle? b bsky.app/profile/did:... pdsls.dev/at://did:plc...
There's room for all of us.
#meme #memes #shitpost #bluesky #screenshot #socialmedia #society #weird #weirdo
Ah, okay, I wouldn't ordinarily ask for this, but can I, uh, can I get a "re-skeet" on this?
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lhck2qa73dovvfqdy7k3ffj6/post/3mdih2knfj22e
hey wooters tooters skeeters and sillies (notetakers and posters too, I guess), CHECK OUT THIS NEW witchsky.app FEATURE! you can change the word "post" to whatever you want! no limits! go crazy with zalgo.org! #witchskyapp #atproto #bluesky #meowmeowmeow #hidden-tags-next-pls #or-teal-fm-support
RE: https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/115963468555278934
Exceptional write-up focused on the benefits of the public truly decentralized Mastodon and the Fediverse for resiliance and defensibility in community organizing.
Grass roots efforts require grass roots tools. Be wary of corporate networks.
Note #Bluesky is effectively a centalized US corporate network. It is not a safe place for community organizations.
This morning's #Bluesky outage went a long way to show that @bsky.appBluesky is deeply interested in centralizing moderation, decentralizing its hosting costs...
I love the Fediverse and really enjoy the Mastodon platform, but (and this surprises me) the gaming community over on Bluesky is really big & engaging! Like, not gamergate types, like good folks!!!
How do we get some folks off Bluesky???
Interesting introduction to the differences between the protocols #ActivityPub (#Mastodon/#Fediverse) and #ATProto (#Bluesky).
https://fediversereport.com/a-conceptual-model-of-atproto-and-activitypub/
A conceptual model of ATProto and ActivityPub
If you were to design an open social networking protocol, what would that look like? Which metaphors and comparisons would you use to get a general idea of how the network functions? And what would you answer if people ask if your network is decentralised and federated?
fediversereport.com · fediversereport.com
Link author: 
Laurens Hof@LaurensHof@fediversereport.com
https://arewedecentralizedyet.online/ has been switched over to new datasources for the social networks, coming from my own #fediverse crawler and #atprotocol observer. Improvements include better heuristics for fediverse user counts and real monthly active user stats for #bluesky/#atproto . I'm also making more raw data available, both for the most recent counts and historical data at https://arewedecentralizedyet.online/data/
Overall, doesn't change the conclusions much, but I'm very happy with these new datasources.
Folks who follow me on #BlueSky #BSky:
Please, enable bridging when you're interacting with us over here on the #Fediverse outside your walled garden.
Otherwise, we'll have to hop over on your site to see those interactions. And I don't want to hop on to BS.
I'm somewhat inclined to disable bridging for my own account; it feels like it's providing legitimacy to BlueSky making claims about "federation" and "decentralization".
Whereas the reality is that #BlueSky is a walled garden, #ATproto has zero independent actually deployed sites, and is headed the way of it's predecessor (including political biases in post suppression).
Folks who follow me on #BlueSky #BSky:
Please, enable bridging when you're interacting with us over here on the #Fediverse outside your walled garden.
Otherwise, we'll have to hop over on your site to see those interactions. And I don't want to hop on to BS.
A heartfelt welcome to everyone who's left Bluesky recently to join the Fediverse! Don't mind the endless discussions, use your content warnings abundantly and please write alt texts to your media. And most importantly: have fun!
We're glad to having you here! 
By producing content on a platform you are encouraging others to stay on that platform.
Think about this responsibility seriously.
@Em0nM4stodonEm 
THIS.
This, 117%
Message to ALL individuals STILL at #BlueSky or #xitter, #instagram, #facebook, etc.
It's on them, it's a conscious choice they should be held accountable for, later.
⚠️🚨 STOP Using Social Media Platform Hootsuite
👉 They Partnered with ICE 👈
"A Hootsuite employee mentioned geolocation, saying the company could drill down to street-level data."
Note: There are Four articles in this post including a Bypass Paywall to the Globe and Mail
"While Hootsuite is based in Canada, it has hundreds of employees globally, including CEO Irina Novoselsky who is based in N.Y City. The company serves major brands like Adobe and Ikea and more .."
h/t 
@todTod Maffin 🇨🇦 FREE PATREON
#Luxembourg #Talkwalker
#Canada #USA #Resist #SocialMedia
#Hootsuite #FB #TikTok #Threads #YouTube #Twitter #WhatsApp #Bluesky
#Pintrest #CyberSecurity #AI
You will also want to read this link👇
Bypass paywall : Globe and Mail Article https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hootsuite-canada-vancouver-ice-social-media-contract/
Link to Hootsuite website: https://www.hootsuite.com/platform/integrations
RE: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/115937101960287352
Exactly. Pointing out that #Bluesky isn't *practically* decentralized yet is not a critique, it's a statement of the work they need to do. (and I wish them luck!)
Mastodon has its own demons to slay. No one is perfect here! We're just talking about how things should improve. I so don't want us to form a circular firing squad. We can all win.
@mikeMike Fraser 
This is untrue. There are a number of independent apps across various verticals. Blogging: leaflet, pckt, offprint; Streaming: stream.place; Short-form video: spark; Git: tangled; and so many more, and none of them are directly dependent on Bluesky whatsoever.
This doesn't even count the microblogging competitors coming up that are full-stack independent of Bsky as well (Blacksky, Northsky, Gander, Eurosky etc.)
@quillmatiqAnuj Ahooja @mikeMike Fraser 
@mmasnickMike Masnick ✅
Feel like whenever this discussion is joined people start talking past each other.
It may be the case that the ATmosphere can be decentralized. And there may be small scale projects which test this potentiality. But the fact remains that it remains highly centralized.
Rob Ricci 
@ricciRob Ricci has developed a metric to address this matter
https://arewedecentralizedyet.online/
The purpose is not to dump on #Bluesky, but rather to establish meaningful context for these discussions.
Really interesting things afoot in social media. It seems like "W", a newly announced "European alternative to X" is actually a fork of the Bluesky code, and is, at least for now, kind of part of the Bluesky AT Proto network. (Thanks to @quillmatiqAnuj Ahooja for the explainer.)
And, apparently #Bluesky board member @mmasnickMike Masnick ✅ really doesn't like the idea.
It will be fascinating to see how this develops.
It seems there are fully hosted and self-hosted options for ATProto/Bluesky now, I stand corrected on that front.
Out of curiosity I looked into what it would take to build my own social media service on top of ATProto. The technical architecture is interesting, but... what would I actually gain?
I chose Mastodon back in 2022 when Bluesky was still invite-only and had no self-hosting story. ActivityPub is a W3C standard. Mastodon gGmbH is a non-profit. The Fediverse has years of proven independent operation across thousands of instances.
Bluesky PBC is a US for-profit company that controls protocol development, although they have made statements about wanting independent governance. Yet the network remains heavily centralized with most users on bsky.social.
Running my own Mastodon instance already gives me sovereignty. ATProto doesn't offer more of that, arguably less given the current state of things. Not saying people shouldn't build on it. But for someone already running independent Fediverse infrastructure, it's hard to see what value it would add. I didn't see the appeal back then and I don't see it now.
#Bluesky #ATProto #Decentralization #SelfHosting #SelfHosted
🧵1/7: A #longthread on #bluesky / #bridge / #echochambers.
Following 
@GargronEugen Rochko's decision to opt out of the Bluesky bridge, most likely driven by the platform's official verification of the #ICE account, and one last pointless interaction with a Bluesky account holder,
I decided to follow suit & sever my own Bluesky ties. I realised the idea of echo chambers was probably a myth invented by the giant #socialmedia platforms to prevent users from fleeing. Let me explain.
https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/115912977448929626
Considering how popular the fediverse already is with at least some of the public institutions in Europe, this is a puzzling move.
"European organizations are about to launch their own social media platform, W, amid rising tensions with the United States."
How to block Bluesky from Mastodon:
1. Go to the profile page of the account @bsky.brid.gy@bsky.brid.gy
2. Click ⋯
3. Click "Block Domain" to stop seeing Bluesky accounts
4. Click "Block" to prevent your own account being bridged to Bluesky
You may need to copy-paste @bsky.brid.gy@bsky.brid.gy into the search box on your server to make the profile appear.
If you can't find the account @bsky.brid.gy@bsky.brid.gy, your server is probably already blocking the Bluesky bridge.
A post for my #BlueSky followers:
You are more than welcome here on the Fediverse side.
Please reach out if you need any help or advice how things work here.
And I highly encourage you to bring with you what you enjoy most. We love diverse communities and even if your passion is not common here on the Fedi side: let's build a cosy little corner for you and interest.
@twiblr
And then there’s the pervasive Russian influence campaigners successfully getting the attention of the far-left people that tend to be in the #fediverse and fanning the flames.
And finally, there’s just ugliness and meanness.
@CaseyCasey Newton 
@beansandzinesAndrew H 
@pj 
@kevinKevin Roose
@twiblr
Not to say there isn’t kindness though. I’ve had some excellent conversations with some really technical people who showed endless patience in explaining some finer points of #Mastodon and/or #Bluesky, federation, self-hosting, Linux and all the flavors of Fediverse software.
@CaseyCasey Newton @beansandzinesAndrew H @pj @kevinKevin Roose
Feeling very conflicted about Bluesky, Bridgy @bsky.brid.gyBridgy Fed for Bluesky, and ICE.
Bluesky folks…. I don’t know that I can connect anymore knowing that organization is going to be actively mining it. If they were on the Fediverse, I could at least block whatever server they came from or impress on the admins, or just whack-a-mole where ever they appeared. But I can’t do that with Bluesky. Bluesky has made an explicit decision to support their presence.
This is the beginning of the end.
Decentralized social web is the only option for free people.
Update: confirmed, ICE Bluesky account is at https://bsky.app/profile/icegov.bsky.social
I will be opting my account out of the #Bluesky bridge next week. If you follow me from Bluesky (I think there are about 3.9K of you) and want to continue seeing my posts you will need to get an account on the fediverse. Cheers.
@GargronEugen Rochko In solidarity with you and all you have done for us, I've deleted my #Bluesky and #twitter accounts....permanently.
I plan on focusing on #fediverse and other forms of decentralization, as well as personal privacy technology.
You inspire us all!
#Fediverse users worked together to make sure #Blacksky has a #Wikipedia page, arising from the need to educate users here about the project, starting in about September last year (https://assemblag.es/@inquiline/115166596826618536 )
I was sort of trying to cheerlead but you-all are who actually built the page! 🙏 ❤️
thanks to 
@Anne_Delong https://musician.social/@Anne_Delong/115321834133067505 among others.
It's ironic that this page went live right as people are breaking their bridged connections to Bluesky because of ICE getting verified there +
Technical details are largely above my paygrade, but it's interesting that also today, Blacksky is running an appview of its own, per 
@mcc (linking out to Blacksky's Rudy Frasier)
https://mastodon.social/@mcc/115917963359245981
Maybe there will be a way to stay bridged to Blacksky while remaining (ahem) defederated from Bluesky, from instances over here?
(mcc's 🧵 gives some back story here, and it [the thread not the story] begins in... September of last year)
If you just left Bluesky today to join or come back to Mastodon, welcome (back)!
We are glad you are here with us 
@Em0nM4stodonEm left #bluesky about a year ago. Now only on #fediverse -- #mastodon and #diaspora, as well as #linkedin for commercial survival.
If there were a way to prospect for #infosec consulting clients on the fediverse only, I'd quit linkedin at machine speed. almost.
I will be opting my account out of the #Bluesky bridge next week. If you follow me from Bluesky (I think there are about 3.9K of you) and want to continue seeing my posts you will need to get an account on the fediverse. Cheers.
@GargronEugen Rochko Appreciate your decision! Bluesky is as rotten at the core as X is. It is a social network that can be sold, manipulated and changed at any moment.
Do not trust centralised tech. Trust the Fediverse.
#Bluesky もだんだん、きな臭い感じになってきてるな…
Do someone has a good article or link over what is happening in #bluesky?
I will be opting my account out of the #Bluesky bridge next week. If you follow me from Bluesky (I think there are about 3.9K of you) and want to continue seeing my posts you will need to get an account on the fediverse. Cheers.
RE: https://mstdn.social/@Grutjes/115907687819628134
And so there is a litmus test in process on #bluesky
But.
They can have a passive presence on Mastodon too. Be aware. Be thoughtful.
But this new Nazi bar has vegan sausages…
@
の Eugen さん、 
