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768 points cyndunlop | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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bitmasher9 ◴[] No.43105534[source]
It’s really impressive how well Bluesky is performing. It really feels like a throwback to older social media platforms with its simplicity and lack of dark-patterns. I’m concerned that all the great work on the platform, protocol, etc won’t shine in the long term as they eventually need to find a revenue source.
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autobodie ◴[] No.43105649[source]
Absolutely. The profit motive is the root of most evil. It is a shame that so many are trained to believe it is the only motive available.
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gkoberger ◴[] No.43105691[source]
I completely agree with this... but without profit, people can't get paid, and they'll stop building. I do hate this incredibly need for growth, of course, but financial growth is necessary to pay people and give them raises and allow them to have upward mobility at the company.

I hope Bluesky is able to find a model that works for them AND for consumers. (I do know it's an open protocol, so it'll live on without Bluesky itself! However, as this post shows, it's a lot of work to build on the prototype... so if not them, who? And if someone else, how will they become sustainable?)

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cyberax ◴[] No.43105928[source]
On the other hand, running something like BlueSky is not terribly expensive. A foundation with a reasonable endowment can do that indefinitely.

Initially, it can be funded by selling tools that do analytics or by donations (like Wikipedia).

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1. bbor ◴[] No.43106175[source]
Yes! If the venture capitalists that are already involved stick to their stated principles and don't demand eternal growth (which... fingers crossed?), I think bsky has an extremely feasible, promising future.

They've intentionally kept a low footprint to keep expenses down, and while income via donation is out of the picture (unless AT Proto grows into a full ecosystem, I suppose?), cosmetics are a tried-and-true model for supporting something that most users use for free, but that some power users spend all day on and want shiny stuff for. They'll probably end up exploring Discord-esque paywalled features for power users as well, which isn't necessarily ideal but is leagues better than getting on the currently-dying vicious cycle of Display Ads, IMO.

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2. immibis ◴[] No.43113913[source]
This is hardly the first instance of "if only venture capitalists light their money on fire, we can have nice things."

Spoiler: Venture capitalists don't light their money on fire, and we can't have nice things.