I have an old twitter acquaintance who was very iconoclastic on Twitter, always happy to defy progressive shibboleths despite being liberal herself who is very different in Bluesky. Keeps quiet about things she never would have in the old place
I notice this tendency in myself and am trying to fight it. If a post is good enough for one of the sites, it's almost always good enough for the other site!
Love this dispassionate observational approach to things that can get the rest of us hot under the collar. I'll be weaving this into another recommendation for this 'stack in my next piece. That's about a process I sense in leftishist culture (what you call social justice ideology) consisting in calling into being a world they wish to see by simple iterative repetition of their vision. I imagine that Bluesky is part of that process. An alternative world where the reality of their principles is simply a given. We all know that this is not how reality is formed, but the comfort of attempting it in a 'safe space', free of the inconveniences of an unforgiving material world, probably shouldn't be understated.
Thanks Mark! Yes, I've seen those stats. Why ever is the Labour Party on the site which is much bigger and more representative of public opinion?!? ;-)
Great post! To what extent do you think the bluesky-twitter split is a further example of the disintegration of the cultural "mainstream"? And if that thesis is correct, what are the implications for politicians trying to communicate with the electorate? Go hyper local? Tailor your message to one particular site/group and try to win with niche appeal? Tailor it to loads of different groups and risk being seen as inauthentic? Gavin Newsome's fate will be interesting in terms of the last approach!
Thanks Alan, that's very kind of you! Yes, the Bluesky-Twitter split is a further example of the disintegration of the cultural mainstream and, in my opinion, has had negative effects on left and right. I suppose that solutions will differ. But in Britain, I'm pretty worried that we have such a fragmented electorate and First-Past-The-Post. In these circumstances, parties can win landslides with relatively small proportions of the vote!
I have an old twitter acquaintance who was very iconoclastic on Twitter, always happy to defy progressive shibboleths despite being liberal herself who is very different in Bluesky. Keeps quiet about things she never would have in the old place
I notice this tendency in myself and am trying to fight it. If a post is good enough for one of the sites, it's almost always good enough for the other site!
https://open.substack.com/pub/blockedandreported/p/premium-bluesky-users-go-to-war-with?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=8hoe0
This is worth a listen.
Thanks!
Love this dispassionate observational approach to things that can get the rest of us hot under the collar. I'll be weaving this into another recommendation for this 'stack in my next piece. That's about a process I sense in leftishist culture (what you call social justice ideology) consisting in calling into being a world they wish to see by simple iterative repetition of their vision. I imagine that Bluesky is part of that process. An alternative world where the reality of their principles is simply a given. We all know that this is not how reality is formed, but the comfort of attempting it in a 'safe space', free of the inconveniences of an unforgiving material world, probably shouldn't be understated.
Thanks Mike, that's really kind of you! Believe me, you wouldn't like Bluesky!
Another good post. Have you seen this polling of X and BlueSky?
https://www.veriangroup.com/en-gb/news-and-insights/uk-polling-may-2025?hs_amp=true
It shows that BlueSky is very unrepresentative of the UK public, which is not a surprise.
Thanks Mark! Yes, I've seen those stats. Why ever is the Labour Party on the site which is much bigger and more representative of public opinion?!? ;-)
Great post! To what extent do you think the bluesky-twitter split is a further example of the disintegration of the cultural "mainstream"? And if that thesis is correct, what are the implications for politicians trying to communicate with the electorate? Go hyper local? Tailor your message to one particular site/group and try to win with niche appeal? Tailor it to loads of different groups and risk being seen as inauthentic? Gavin Newsome's fate will be interesting in terms of the last approach!
Thanks Alan, that's very kind of you! Yes, the Bluesky-Twitter split is a further example of the disintegration of the cultural mainstream and, in my opinion, has had negative effects on left and right. I suppose that solutions will differ. But in Britain, I'm pretty worried that we have such a fragmented electorate and First-Past-The-Post. In these circumstances, parties can win landslides with relatively small proportions of the vote!