Twitter’s decentralized, open-source offshoot just released its first code

Bluesky

Bluesky has released early code for a social network protocol. Bluesky emphasizes that the system is incomplete and that it is available for developers to test. It is one of the most substantive windows into Bluesky's workings since the project was conceived in 2019.

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber wrote that ADX will be the start of a semi-public development process. There is an overview of ADX's goals and design as well as some experimental code in the repository. Graber says things are going to change. The code is open source.

ADX is not a single social network design. It is a protocol built around user-controlled Personal Data Repositories that social network developers could choose to support. It's supposed to let users transfer social media posts or engagement between networks without eroding the networks' own moderation options. The data will be stored in Personal Data Repositories owned by the user. The ability to keep data in the repository, as well as the ability to only index some of the content, is what platforms can choose to only index.

The week after Musk struck a deal to acquire the social networking site, ADX is emerging. Bluesky is an initiative that has different goals. Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of the company, said that they would fund research into a decentralization version of the service. Bluesky was established in February of 2022 as a public benefit company focused on large-scale adoption of technologies for open and distributed public conversation.

The funding of Bluesky is not subject to any conditions except that Bluesky is to.

Bluesky joined a field that already included ActivityPub, which powers the Mastodon platform. Its researchers stressed that they are trying to learn from and build on the efforts that have been made. It is a chance to see if the promise of ADX holds up.