How does Bluesky continue indefinitely into the future if every metric seems to say that they peaked at the end of 2024 and have been on a slow decline ever since? Aren’t they pretty reliant on funding from investors? https://bsky.jazco.dev/stats
@collin I've been wondering about this myself. I like the platform, but it's obvious it's not growing and I have serious doubts about its future.
@collin Mastodon is also in a slow decline. Both networks benefited from spikes in 2024 and 2025… Growth is just hard against Meta’s reach.
@bbatsov same. Mastodon isn’t growing either, but doesn’t require regular injections of cash, so I’m not sure it’s a problem.
@collin That's been my thesis for a while now…in fact it's not hyperbole to state that if trends continue the way they have the Fediverse will eclipse the ATmosphere at some point (because the former is holding steady while the latter is shrinking).
I'm not ready to say Bluesky is cooked, but…it's not looking great.
https://theinternet.review/2026/05/10/another-bluesky-vibe-check/
@jaredwhite It seems to me that Mastodon was designed so that it could stay small and that’s fine, but Bluesky needs to grow since they rely on VC funding and cost a lot of money to keep running?
@collin If larger demographic/regional offshoots of Bluesky/ATProto really thrive like Blacksky, Eurosky, etc., then maybe that'll prove out a healthy model eventually…but yeah, I'm bullish on Mastodon etc. just because everything is humming along without much pressure to monetize/enshittify anything.
@jaredwhite I don’t expect the Fediverse to take over the world, but it doesn’t have to. It’s fun and sustainable right now.