Beyond Bluesky: Applications Creating Social Experiences on the AT Protocol.
A year ago, Bluesky became publicly accessible and was recognized as one of the several competitors to X that emerged after Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform.
Bluesky, which was launched to the public a year ago as one of the many alternatives to X following Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, has rapidly evolved. Today, the social network has reached over 33 million users and is backed by the AT Protocol, a technology that is fostering the development of multiple applications to create an open and connected social ecosystem. The ATmosphere conference was recently held in Seattle, where developers of several of these applications gathered to discuss the future of the AT Protocol and the challenges they must face.
Attendees, some in person and others virtually, engaged in conversations about rebuilding Web 2.0. Unlike its predecessor, this new wave of applications is based on open technologies, moving away from the centralized services that dominate the current tech landscape. Bluesky was the first to emerge from this movement, but many more are in development.
Among the applications that use the AT Protocol and are designed for the average user are a variety of tools covering everything from photo and video sharing to blogging and live streaming. While some of these tools are still in their early stages, they reflect the potential of a constantly expanding ecosystem.
Featured Applications
Photo and Video Sharing Apps
- Flashes: An alternative to Instagram that allows users to upload up to four photos or videos of up to three minutes.
- Spark: A video-centric app that offers features like filters and a music library.
- Pinksky: Focused on photo sharing, this app resembles Instagram in its functionality.
Live Streaming
- Streamplace: This is the first live streaming platform to use the AT Protocol, offering a familiar experience with high-quality options.
Feed Builders
- Graze: Allows users to create and manage Bluesky feeds, as well as monetize them.
- Surf: Enables the creation of custom feeds that integrate content from multiple social networks.
Messaging
- Germ: An encrypted messaging app that also aims to facilitate social connections beyond simple text messages.
- Roomy: Offers direct messaging between users while also taking privacy into account.
Evaluation and Discovery
- Dazzle.fm: A site that organizes Bluesky information into categories and allows users to customize what they want to see based on their interests.
- Cred.blue: Helps users better understand the health of the profiles they follow through a scoring system based on their activity.
Other Applications
- Whoosh: Makes it easier for users to share their online presence in a centralized manner.
- Mutesky: Helps manage topics and discussions that a user prefers to avoid in their Bluesky experience.
Considering the rise of these new tools and applications, the landscape of online social interaction is taking a new direction, where decentralization and control of personal data are paramount.
