I have now been on Bluesky for about 18 months.
I began reducing my dependence on Twitter in late 2022 following Elon Musk’s takeover. It quickly became clear to me that it would no longer remain the place it had been and would quickly descend into a far right sewer. As it has. If anything I underestimated just how bad it would get. Musk’s encouragement of racist riots in the UK in summer 2024 was one of many lows: disgusting, desperate and dangerous.
After testing various platforms in early 2023, I felt that Bluesky, while not perfect, would become a replacement, if not for the whole of Twitter, at least for the part of Twitter I engaged with most: academics, museum professionals and people interested in history, books and politics.
It is now home to active and engaged users and even if it doesn’t quite have the viral quality and fun of pre-Musk Twitter (where are all the shit posters?), it has become a valuable resource for learning what’s happening in the world, discovering new topics and ideas and making genuine connections. I am convinced it will only grow.
Compared to Threads, it’s more organic. The posts and interactions feel genuine. And there’s more critical mass than Mastodon. Twitter/X is long gone.
I have been using Instagram for a while (and more recently even created a Threads account). Following the Musk takeover of Twitter, I turned to it more. Given the just announced changes to fact checking and moderation by Meta, I have decided to stop using my accounts by the end of the month.
I will also stop embedding Instagram posts on this blog and begin removing previously embedded Twitter/X and Instagram posts.
I encourage you all to follow me on Bluesky.
If you are new to Bluesky, Ned Potter has created an introduction for researchers, which I think is useful for anyone, and Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts has created a brilliant list of starter packs (essentially groups of recommended followers) for people interested in ancient history, classics and archaoelogy.
If you are already on Bluesky, follow me there.
Rhakotis 