Musk's sadism economy

It's not really about "better moderation", it's not even monetisation – there's a reason X is so different to anything else.

Bluesky hits different. When you get to the newly-viral social network – and when you build up enough of a following/followers list for it to feel alive – the novelty is striking. It feels nothing like Twitter (or X, as it has become. It’s not Twitter any more).

Except it doesn’t actually feel new. Bluesky feels good because it feels familiar, at least if you were on there in its ‘golden’ era of a decade or more ago and had a following in the low thousands – especially if you’re a working journalist.

Sharing your articles results in RTs, likes, and even some constructive feedback. It doesn’t generally lead to a flurry of abuse. Jokes seem to work. The whole place feels like moving back into a childhood home you thought had been demolished. It’s still here. Perhaps social media could be like this again.

The roots of Bluesky’s potential downfall probably lie in that familiarity, too. There are some genuine innovations: starter packs – user-generated lists of people to follow – make it eas…