For Bluesky, Massive User Uptick Brings Growing Pains and Divisive Bots

by

As a seasoned gamer who has navigated through countless virtual worlds, I find myself intrigued by this new kid on the block – Bluesky. Having witnessed the rise and fall of numerous social media platforms, I must admit, the trajectory of Bluesky is quite fascinating.

Since the U.S. presidential election, Bluesky has experienced a significant increase in its user base due to several reasons. Some individuals find it as a sanctuary from Elon Musk’s X, which they perceive as becoming excessively conservative because of its owner’s backing for President-elect Donald Trump. Others are looking for an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms.

The platform, initially rooted within the company once referred to as Twitter under the guidance of its ex-CEO Jack Dorsey, was designed to overtake Twitter’s fundamental functionality due to its decentralized nature in social networking. However, since both companies have separated, it seems improbable that this original intent will be realized. Nevertheless, given the substantial increase in users, Bluesky could potentially emerge as a formidable rival among other social media platforms.

With expansion comes the discomfort of growing, and it’s not only human users who are attracted to Bluesky, but also automated ones. These automatons encompass a variety, such as those programmed to sow discord along political lines or guide users towards unproductive sites.

The rapidly growing user population, now exceeding 25 million, marks a significant challenge for a relatively new platform that positions itself as an ad-free social media alternative to existing platforms’ issues. As per the data from research firm Similarweb, Bluesky gained 7.6 million monthly active app users on iOS and Android in November, representing a 295.4% increase since October. Additionally, it recorded 56.2 million desktop and mobile web visits during the same period, a rise of 189% compared to October.

Besides the U.S. elections, Bluesky also got a boost when X was briefly banned in Brazil.

Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University and part of Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media, stated that the platform experienced a surge in attention, reaching a point where it becomes profitable for users to bombard it with spam. However, they lack the financial resources and the extensive team that larger platforms possess, so they must act swiftly to address this issue.

Initially operating as an exclusive platform accessible only through invitations, Bluesky allowed for controlled growth among its small team. This phase ended in February when the site became open to the general public. During this initial period, Bluesky took advantage of the time to develop moderation tools and unique features aimed at enticing new users. These included “starter packs,” which offered curated lists of topics. Notably, Meta has revealed that it is currently experimenting with a comparable feature.

According to Claire Wardle, a professor at Cornell University and an expert in misinformation, the values of Bluesky differ significantly from larger platforms like Meta’s. A key distinction lies in providing users with greater autonomy over their experience on the platform.

As a passionate advocate, I’ve always believed that the initial wave of social media platforms brought us closer together globally, yet unfortunately, it concentrated power in the hands of select corporations and their executives. Here I am, championing Bluesky – a platform that envisions a different narrative. We don’t have to be at the mercy of billionaires dictating our online encounters. Instead, on an open network like Bluesky, you are empowered to customize your own experience.

Due to its unique attitude, Bluesky has earned an underdog reputation that appeals to users frustrated with the dominant market leaders.

Wardle stated that there was an expectation for this platform to be a unique kind of social network. However, the reality is, when numerous individuals gather together, it becomes attractive for others to employ automated accounts, or bots, to generate content that aligns with their specific viewpoints.

There’s not much evidence yet to determine the extent of the increase in fake accounts, AI-driven networks, and other potentially harmful content on Bluesky. However, users have lately started complaining about a significant number of apparent AI-controlled accounts following them, posting copied articles or making automated, divisive comments in responses.

Dr. Lion Cassens, a Bluesky platform user and Dutch Ph.D. student, stumbled upon a network unintentionally — a collection of German-speaking accounts, all sporting identical bios and AI-crafted profile photos, engaging in discussions on replies to three German newspapers.

“I noticed some weird replies under a news post by the German newspaper ‘Die Ziet,’” he said in an email to The Associated Press. “I have a lot of trust in the moderation mechanism on Bluesky, especially compared to Twitter since the layoffs and due to Musk’s more radical stance on freedom of speech. But AI bots are a big challenge, as they will only improve. I hope social media can keep up with that.”

Cassens expressed that the messages from the bots have been generally harmless up until now, yet he harbored apprehensions regarding their potential manipulation in the future for deceitful purposes.

There’s evidence suggesting that misleading stories, originally from foreign sources, may have been shared on Bluesky as well. For instance, the disinformation research team Alethea identified a post with a false claim about ABC News, which had been propagated on Russian Telegram networks.

Duplicate accounts imitating individuals are another problem encountered on platforms like Bluesky. In late November, Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security, Trust and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech, discovered that 44% of the top 100 most followed named people on Bluesky had at least one false account pretending to be them. Two weeks later, Mantzarlis stated that Bluesky had eliminated approximately two-thirds of these counterfeit accounts he’d initially found – a gesture showing the site recognizes the issue and is taking steps to resolve it.

Earlier this month, Bluesky revealed it had expanded its team responsible for moderation fourfold in response to its expanding user community. Additionally, they disclosed the implementation of a novel system to identify impersonations and ongoing efforts to refine their Community Guidelines, offering greater specificity regarding acceptable content. The unique structure of the site enables users the opportunity to subscribe to external “Labelers,” which delegate content moderation tasks by tagging accounts with warnings or additional context.

The company didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.

Despite not currently experiencing the same magnitude of issues as other platforms do, Bluesky stands at a critical juncture, according to Edward Perez, a board member at the neutral and political party-free organization, OSET Institute, who formerly oversaw Twitter’s civic integrity group.

Despite BlueSky’s preference for staying in a virtual realm, it’s inevitably being drawn into the practical world,” Perez pointed out, emphasizing that it must urgently address potential risks and take action to lessen them if it aspires to keep expanding.

It’s clear that Bluesky will face more than just dealing with disinformation and bots as time goes on. Since it’s a text-based social network, it seems to be losing its appeal among younger generations. A survey by the Pew Research Center showed that the usage of Bluesky dropped from 23% to 17% among American teenagers alone, indicating a shift towards platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and others that focus more on visual content for this demographic.

The political divide seems to be hindering Bluesky from attaining the same scale as platforms like TikTok, Instagram, or even X.

Bluesky isn’t aiming to cater to everyone’s needs,” Wardle explained, implying that the era of a single platform like Facebook or Instagram striving for universal satisfaction might be coming to an end. As social media platforms become more fragmented along ideological lines, and when they don’t (as seen with Meta’s platforms), the companies running them are actively working to reduce the visibility of political content and news.

Read More

2024-12-25 00:55