I’ve been exploring AT Protocol and BlueSky a bunch lately and while I agree with his goals, I think Doctorow may be wrong about BlueSky because of the AT Protocol.
https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast
BlueSky feels more like a popular RSS reader on top of the AT Protocol than it is a platform that’s easy to create lock-in.
One example is ads, if they were to try push too far with ads, it would be easy for another client to rise up with fewer or better ads. This should set up the right incentives.
Also, I think he’s wrong on the not-federated comment. The AT Protocol architecture is sliced differently than Mastadon but it is already possible to self host (a PDS) or run a relay. It doesn’t *feel* like federation because that’s not nearly as visible as it is in other architectures.
I’m still trying to get my head around how BlueSky will make money but I have to think that once it reaches significant size, there have to be non-enshittification ways to monetize a large ecosystem. There’s also a ‘new identity’ thing going on that I haven’t got my head around yet.
I do hope they only develop paid features that add value and have a cost deliver though.
In addition, we will begin developing a subscription model for features like higher quality video uploads or profile customizations like colors and avatar frames. (https://bsky.social/about/blog/10-24-2024-series-a)
Higher quality video uploads has a cost and it’s fair to charge for the value. As would more PDS storage or features that businesses require like deeper analytics. Profile customizations have no inherit cost to deliver and just leverage their control of the client for minor extortion. I’m not sure if that fits Doctorow’s definition of enshittification or not.
Last thought, a lot of people made good businesses out of web hosting. Will someone make a good business out of PDS or relay hosting? Or high value labelers?
