Bluesky’s Rise and the Future of Social Media Monetization
Bluesky has emerged as a formidable player in social media this year, attracting millions with its decentralized protocol, vibrant community, and user-centric customization. Unlike platforms controlled by a single entity, Bluesky empowers users to shape their experience—but the big question remains: How will it sustain itself financially?
Funding and Revenue Possibilities
With $15 million in funding and growing investor interest, CEO Jay Graber is evaluating multiple monetization strategies while prioritizing user experience. Potential avenues include:
- Premium subscriptions for enhanced features
- A marketplace for custom algorithms
- Domain name sales
While Graber has vowed not to “enshittify” Bluesky with intrusive ads, she hasn’t ruled out advertising entirely. Instead, she envisions a more user-intent-driven approach—one that aligns incentives without commodifying attention.
The Advertising Dilemma: A Balanced Approach
During TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event, Graber emphasized Bluesky’s commitment to avoiding the pitfalls of traditional social media ad models. The platform’s decentralized structure inherently limits reliance on ads, as users could create ad-free feeds via its open protocol.
“At heart, I’m a digital rights activist,” Graber stated. “People need control over their social networks—these are vital communication structures.”
Possible ad experiments might include non-intrusive placements, such as search-result ads, ensuring the core experience remains uncompromised.
AI Licensing: A Revenue Stream Bluesky Won’t Pursue
Graber explicitly rejected AI licensing deals, a lucrative path for platforms like Reddit. Despite the potential value of its public data, Bluesky’s open protocol makes scraping inevitable. Instead, Graber advocates for a robots.txt-style system to let users opt out of bot scraping.
Growth Before Monetization
With rapid expansion—from 3 million to 24 million users this year—Bluesky’s immediate focus is scaling, not profitability. Graber notes that even Threads, with 275 million users, hasn’t rolled out ads yet.
The AT Protocol’s Role in Future Revenue
Bluesky’s underlying AT Protocol could itself become a revenue source, offering services to future platforms built on it. Graber sees synergy between maintaining the protocol and growing Bluesky, ensuring both thrive without conflict.
The Challenge—and Advantage—of Decentralization
Bluesky’s open protocol is its strength but complicates monetization. Unlike walled gardens (e.g., Facebook), its user-first design shifts power away from corporate control—a tradeoff Graber embraces.
“Traditional models succeed by locking users in,” she acknowledges. “We’re redefining success by giving control back.”
As Bluesky evolves, its monetization strategy will reflect this philosophy: innovative, user-aligned, and transparent.
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