The Bluesky project would eventually enable the creation of new management algorithms that would show different tweets at the top of users’ timelines than Twitter’s own algorithm. It would give users more choice about the type of content they see, Mr Dorsey said, and would allow Twitter to partner with other social media services.
Bluesky caught the attention of many technologists who were already working on decentralization. Soon, small groups of them gathered on Sunday with Mr Agrawal and Mr Dorsey to discuss the project, according to two participants who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meetings, while others exchanged ideas in an online chat room.
Some Bluesky participants suggested a single app that piped all their social media feeds. Others wanted custom algorithms that could, for example, prevent them from seeing spoilers about their favorite TV show. And some focused on making their online identities portable so that an account could be moved between social media companies the way a phone number could be moved from AT&T to Verizon.
“One of the things Bluesky would provide is curating and filtering experiences that are independent of those offered by social media owners,” said Tim Bray, an Internet software pioneer and former vice president. at Amazon who took part in some of the discussions.
Jay Graber, a cryptocurrency developer, was selected in August to lead the Bluesky organization. And in February, Ms. Graber announced that the project had been officially registered as a public utility and was building a prototype.
The project caught the attention of Reddit engineers, who held preliminary talks with Twitter engineers about how their sites might one day work together, said two people familiar with the talks, but the companies have not formally agreed to plans to collaborate. to work.
Some skeptics believe that Twitter is jumping on the web3 bandwagon and joining a trendy movement in technology to shift many services, including social media, to the so-called blockchain technology. But executives say Twitter is meeting what an overwhelming number of users want, while following the decentralization mandate set out by Mr. Dorsey before he left as CEO in November.