Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s Bluesky is building a new social network which will allow users to move their accounts between providers.
Renamed Authenticated Transfer Protocol – or AT Protocol for short – it is described as a federated social network with integrated decentralised technologies.
“It’s a way for servers to communicate with each other — like email,” the company said. “Instead of one site running the network, you can have many sites. It means you get a choice of provider, and individuals and businesses can self-host if they want.
“A person’s online identity should not be owned by corporations with no accountability to their users. With the AT Protocol, you can move your account from one provider to another without losing any of your data or social graph.”
Another potential benefit to the new system would be the decreased power of social network algorithms.
“Algorithms dictate what we see and who we can reach. We must have control over our algorithms if we’re going to trust in our online spaces,” said Bluesky. “The AT Protocol includes an open algorithms mode so users have more control over their experience.”
The company, which is building a Bluesky app as the central hub for users, said fast loading times will be key to success and that it will begin to share more details of its plans going forward.
“The World-Wide Web wouldn’t have been much fun if it was created without a browser, and the same is true of the AT Protocol. So we’re also building a social app called Bluesky,” it said.
Bluesky has opened a private beta waitlist.