Bluesky has experienced significant growth this year due to its vibrant community, user customization choices, and decentralized protocol. However, the platform’s business model remains uncertain, with CEO Jay Graber hinting at potential revenue streams such as social media subscriptions, algorithmic marketplaces, and selling domain names.
Graber stated that Bluesky is not ruling out ads altogether, but wants to explore advertising in a way that aligns with user intent. She aims to ensure the platform’s incentives remain aligned with users, avoiding models where user attention becomes the product.
As a digital rights activist, Graber believes users need control over their social networks, which can become vital structures. Bluesky’s open protocol prevents a business model solely relying on ads, as users can create alternative feeds without ads.
Despite exploring potential revenue streams, Graber ruled out AI licensing deals, citing concerns about training AI on user content. However, she expressed interest in establishing a robots.txt protocol to signal to bots that users don’t want their content scraped.
Unlike Reddit, which has charged generative AI companies to train on its content, Bluesky’s open protocol makes it challenging to stop users from scraping the platform for free. The company is primarily focused on growth and doesn’t plan to monetize actively until it scales its user base further.
Bluesky’s decentralized nature introduces challenges to monetization, as traditional social media companies rely on locking in users and controlling the experience. Graber believes maintaining a thriving ecosystem on Bluesky’s protocol can lead to new business opportunities, such as offering services to other platforms built on AT protocol.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/05/bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-is-reshaping-social-media-but-advertising-isnt-off-the-table