- Joined
- Feb 16, 2021
This was going to be my question to the first part of your post til I finished reading it. I did a quick google and according to a very unsettling looking female Chinaman they are planning to introduce subscriptions and other monetization features to Bluesky.Afaik BSky still runs on VC money with no real plan on how to make any profit.
Full article here, but I'll post the relevant segments in the thread:
Rose revealed that subscriptions are slated to launch in 2025 — emphasizing that this doesn’t mean Bluesky will be pay-to-play.
“We would never put features like posting or bookmarks or like actual core features of the app behind a paywall,” she says. “That's just not the point of the subscriptions.”
So what will users be paying for, then?
“It’s a way for users to get more what we call ‘self-expression tools’,” she says.
Here’s a sneak peek at what the subscription model will include:
“We would never put features like posting or bookmarks or like actual core features of the app behind a paywall,” she says. “That's just not the point of the subscriptions.”
So what will users be paying for, then?
“It’s a way for users to get more what we call ‘self-expression tools’,” she says.
Here’s a sneak peek at what the subscription model will include:
- Custom icons: Personalize your profile with unique visual elements.
- More for custom domains: Bluesky already offers custom domains, but Rose hinted that there were "more interesting" things coming for subscribers.
- Extended video uploads: Share longer, higher-quality video content.
“Right now, we're seeing a lot of creators, developers, and curators who are getting paid on Patreon and Ko-fi for the feeds or a little bot that they created that people really love,” Rose says. “And so what we want to do is follow that.”
The plan is to build a system where creators can get paid right on Bluesky and any other platforms built on their open AT Protocol ecosystem.
“And then we'll increase the volume of those transactions, and the creators and folks take home most of it, and we just take a percentage of the transaction fee,” Rose says.
“As they make more money, we should make money — but if they aren’t, we shouldn’t either.”
Rose shared that, due to the complicated nature of payment systems, monetization probably won’t be coming to Bluesky for the next 12 months at least. “It takes time — payments just take a while. But absolutely, it’s one of the things that we are prioritizing.”
The plan is to build a system where creators can get paid right on Bluesky and any other platforms built on their open AT Protocol ecosystem.
“And then we'll increase the volume of those transactions, and the creators and folks take home most of it, and we just take a percentage of the transaction fee,” Rose says.
“As they make more money, we should make money — but if they aren’t, we shouldn’t either.”
Rose shared that, due to the complicated nature of payment systems, monetization probably won’t be coming to Bluesky for the next 12 months at least. “It takes time — payments just take a while. But absolutely, it’s one of the things that we are prioritizing.”
The monetization plans sounds like they want to usurp Patreon and other hipster welfare programs, which isn't the worst idea but I also see people being a) reluctant to transition and convince their paypigs to come with them and b) hesitant about hitching their financial stability to a platform that is notoriously hostile and viciously punishes wrongthink. It reminds me of the company scrip speech AOC gave Mark Zuckerberg when he was floating the idea about Meta getting their tentacles into financing ('if I'm banned from Facebook will I become unable to book a room at a Meta hotel?').
TL;DR The plans to move away from VC and monetize Bluesky feel extremely underwhelming, and very similar to Meta or Elon's pivot to try and be everything to everyone all in one place. I don't see this being succesful enough to sustain the platform even if active users adopt them purely to support the platform rather than because they want any of the perceived benefits on offer.
Honestly I feel like they'd be better throwing up the Jimmy Wales whip-round banner that Wikipedia uses for panhandling.