I quickly learned that the site’s core innovation is not finding ways to facilitate thoughtful conversations. Instead, Bluesky’s secret sauce is the powerful tools it gives users to shut down voices they disagree with. Block lists—featuring the names of people you will not permit to see your posts—are public and widely shared and discussed. “People make nasty lists and lists and lists there,” a Bluesky user in Germany explained to me. Many Bluesky regulars import other users’ lists wholesale, allowing them to block hundreds of people they’ve never even heard of. One frustrated user complained, “I barely have 1,000 followers here on Bluesky and I’ve already been blocked by 300+ people!”Perhaps it’s no surprise that a platform built on the notion that users need sanctuary from dangerous ideas would encourage hypervigilance against intruders. Some Bluesky users roam the site like white blood cells in the human bloodstream, always searching for invading pathogens. Any time a new user arrives who shows signs of heterodox thinking, they raise the alarm.
I've heard that Bluesky is the ultimate echo chamber and the drive to censor doesn't surprise me at all. I've seen the same thing on Reddit where users rush to compliant (and left-leaning) moderators whenever a thought-crime is committed. The Left hates free speech and, thus, these hive mind safe zones.
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