Jack Dorsey To Begin Beta Testing New ‘Federated’ Social Network
Twitter Inc. founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey’s company Bluesky will soon be launching the AT Protocol, “a new foundation for social networking which gives creators independence from platforms, developers the freedom to build, and users a choice in their experience.”
In an October 18 announcement, Bluesky described the Authenticated Transfer Protocol, or simply AT Protocol as a federated social network as it brings together ideas “from the latest decentralized technologies into a simple, fast, and open network,” and said that they are building an app for Blueskysocial, and will soon initiate private beta testing of the protocol.
While much of the blog entry still sounds like AI-generated Web3 mumbo jumbo, what the protocol promises are these four key features: account portability or the choice of provider to host your online identity, algorithmic choice or an open algorithms mode so users can have more control over, interoperation or a framework that lets services solve coordination challenges, and performance or simply faster loading at large scales.
The protocol will be like a browser that will allow users to switch between social media networks, using the Bluesky app, with the promise of having more control over what they see and how much data they give those platforms.
Dorsey first announced Bluesky as a Twitter initiative to develop a decentralized social media protocol on Twitter in 2019. It spent most of 2021 in a research phase, and in 2022 began announcing updates including the ADX or the first iteration of the AT protocol in May.
No other dates or details have been provided but those who are curious can start signing up for the app waitlist. Reports say that over 30,000 signed up in the first 48 hours since the announcement.
News about Dorsey’s Bluesky project has gained increased media attention since Musk finalized his acquisition of Twitter last week. Musk has since fired at least four executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal.
Information for this briefing was found via Bluesky, Twitter, Coindesk, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
