Mastodon vs. Bluesky: It's not the battle you might think it is

20 Nov, 2024

The latest hot topic discussion on Mastodon seems to be Bluesky, and which platform is "better" than the other. The vocal majority seems to be sticking behind Mastodon, propping it up over Bluesky. But there are some who also like Bluesky. Jesse is boosting people who are responding to his post about Mastodon, sometimes to comedic effect¹.

Personally, I use both. There is no "either/or" in this scenario for me. I don't see the point in arguing about which platform is better, or which one will be more popular. Why does it matter, at the end of the day? If you like Mastodon and don't want to be on Bluesky, then what difference is it to you that other people might choose Bluesky over Mastodon? Chances are if you're in that boat, you probably have a pretty good group of friends on Mastodon and they're not likely to jump ship either.

One of the more important issues to all of the social media platforms is whether or not you feel safe and comfortable using them. A lot of this comes down to diversity - if the platform you're on doesn't have a good representation of people who are like you, then you're not likely to stay. That's one of the problems with Mastodon - as great as the platform is in comparison to "traditional" algorithm-based models, there is a lack of diversity.

The example of "tone policing" is up there, too. And what about Reply Guys? Mastodon, deserved or not, has the reputation in popular culture as being difficult to understand and set up an account. As a result most of the people using the service tends to be technologically-inclined white people². There are a lot of marginalized people that say they don't feel safe on Mastodon, and I don't blame them.

Bluesky so far seems to be a safe place. It's friendly, it's funny, and diverse. It's also insanely popular right now, with users jumping over from X in droves over the last two weeks. Is it a surprise that so many people are choosing Bluesky, then?

But going back to what I was saying before, this isn't an either/or situation.

Remember The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?³

There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet

We all wear different "faces" depending on the situation we're in. We don't talk to our co-workers the same way we talk to our friends (let's not worry about when those two circles interact). When I think about this, the best example that came to mind for me was high school. Join me as I travel back in time 21-25 years ago.

When I was in high school I had different friend groups. There was the group I hung out with to talk about TV - Star Trek, X-Files⁴, you name it - and then I had a smaller group that talked about Star Wars in particular, and things like MUDs. Another group of us were into sports and specifically Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey. For me, Bluesky is where I go to talk about sports and pop culture; Mastodon is where I go to have some deeper conversations and talk about blog stuff. Actually I talk about a lot of things on Mastodon, with sports being the one that doesn't get covered as much.

My point is...you can use more than one platform. And it's not important for one platform to "win" over another one. Go where you are comfortable, and where you want to be. Most importantly don't view it as an "either/or" situation. If a certain platform means more to you than the other - that's a personal choice and perfectly OK! You also don't need to try very hard to convince other people that you're right and no other opinion should be considered.

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Or if you prefer, find me on Mastodon.

#social media