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Ferran 🐒
@ferran
1/6 I was reading this new paper on how 300K academics migrated from X to Bluesky, and I wanted to share some reflections because it shows quite clearly how social networks actually grow. What I’m about to say isn’t new. I’ve often been critical of Farcaster’s current growth strategy, and that’s because it’s not grounded in how networks or virality really work. Instead, it feels that FC is based on well-funded wishful thinking: abstract ideas wrapped in the language of innovation, blending Read/Write/Own concepts with old-school Silicon Valley consumer app logic… without fully committing to either. At the end of the day it leans heavily on FOMO and incentives to drive (low-quality) growth. (Farcaster Pro subscriptions stalling as soon as users -or bots- hit the 10k NFT reward cap is a perfect example of this.) And yes, experimentation is great. Some of the best ideas emerge from it. But we also have a long-established understanding of how humans (as social and emotional animals) behave.
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Garrett
@garrett
Blue sky’s main growth axis was politics/anti-Elon And personally i think having that as a uniting theme for initial growth isn’t particularly healthy for a truly diverse social network Will be difficult for bluesky to grow out of that to become more diverse as it grows https://farcaster.xyz/dwr.eth/0xed5e8e83
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Ferran 🐒
@ferran
I have to partly disagree, that is not my experience there (I’m mainly consumer on Bluesky but user since the beginning and I saw an evolution). I believe this was true a year ago. As of today Bluesky feels much more diverse, full of humans and with many discussions that are not just people insulting each other, but the deep debates and exchange of knowledge I always want to find on Internet. On the other hand, every time I open X I only find neonazism, conspirancy theories and >90% bots on the replies when using “For you” and repeated content on Following (and most of my best follows not using X anymore) Ofc, Bluesky tends to be more progressist/liberal/left in general. But I feel that the theory that says Bluesky is just an “anti-Elon” and “woke” reaction is a bit weak tbh. On the other hand I also know personally (and follow) many right-wing and center aligned people that use Bluesky. Especially people in geopolitics, international security and local politics. And they feel at home.
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