What Is Bluesky and Could It Replace Twitter?

This week, the buzz around Bluesky has been intense. It is a new platform for social media that's being called Twitter 2.0. Chrissy Teigen, a model and cookbook writer, as well as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York State, Democrat, have both joined. It is a hot topic. Thousands are asking for invites.

Since Elon Musk changed the service after buying the company and changing the tone of the platform last year, some Twitter users are looking for an alternate social platform. Bluesky users claim that the app, which was funded Jack Dorsey, a Twitter co-founder, has the closest tone and feel to Twitter.

What you need to know.

Bluesky, a social networking site, offers many of Twitter's core features. Users can share short text or photo updates, respond to one another and share each other's posts.

App, still under development, was made available in February for iOS devices and this month for Android devices.

Jay Graber said that Bluesky's CEO, Jay Graber, stated in a recent blog that it wasn't a coincidence that the application looked similar to Twitter. Bluesky, unlike Twitter, plans to be decentralized, which means that people will eventually be able build their own applications and communities. Ms. Graber explained that it was created in this way to prevent any individual from creating rules for the Bluesky community.

Bluesky uses an "open protocol" as well. This is unique, because social media platforms are typically walled gardens. That is, what you post on one platform stays on that platform. Your tweets and photos may appear on Twitter, but not on Instagram.

Bluesky, which is trying to be opener, could one day allow for posts to flow easily between social media platforms.

A Bluesky user speculated last month that the name of the app came from Mr. Dorsey’s desire to turn Twitter into an open protocol and free Twitter's bird to fly in a blue skies. Mr. Dorsey replied, "Yes."

Bluesky is still in development and currently only available by invitation. In a recent post, Graber stated that the app was building moderation tools prior to opening it up to the public. For people to sign up, they need an invitation code.

Musk has made changes to Twitter since he bought it. He removed restrictions on online speech and changed its verification procedures. These changes have caused some confusion among users, and an increase in hate speech and misinformation on the platform.

Twitter users are now testing out alternative services. Mastodon is another decentralized social network that has stated it wants to be a "viable alternative to Twitter."

Bluesky was initially limited to a select group of tech-savvy insiders. The platform was buzzed about after several public figures and prominent Twitter accounts, such as Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Teigen, and Dril, the social media star, joined it on Thursday.

Bluesky users seem to be enjoying the similarities between the app and Twitter. They are calling the posts in the app "skeets" as a parody of tweets. Even Ms. Graber's plea on Thursday for them to change the name didn't seem to deter them.

Kate Conger contributed reporting.