There’s been some debate over the last year or so regarding Bluesky and how decentralized it really is. There has also been a growing fear that “enshittification is inevitable.” Or, worse, that an “evil billionaire” might take it over and ruin it the way other platforms have been ruined.

But I think it’s important to understand that Bluesky has, effectively, created a technological poison pill: by building on an open protocol, ATprotocol, the system itself can be rebuilt outside of Bluesky, but in a way where everyone can continue to communicate, and that creates incredible incentives that undermine any evil billionaires, and would actually punish Bluesky (or anyone else!) should they try to enshittify.

  • futatorius@lemm.ee
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    4 hours ago

    It’s entirely possible to produce a centrally-controlled implementation of a decentralized protocol. Just control both sides of the interface.

    Decentralized protocols are a necessary but not sufficient condition for a lock-in-free experience.