In a time when professionals are obsessed with user counts and growth charts, it’s tempting to measure success by scale alone, but scale without substance is a fleeting advantage.
In a recent CyberNews article, I shared a view that I believe is critical to understanding where platforms like Bluesky are headed and why they matter. Bluesky isn’t chasing X or Threads in a traditional sense. It’s not playing the same game.
It’s building the infrastructure for something entirely different.
Fragmentation Is the Future
The social internet is no longer about dominance. It’s about differentiation. We’re watching the collapse of one-size-fits-all networks and the rise of purpose-driven platforms. This is fragmentation, and it’s a feature, not a bug.
We’ve seen this play out before. According to The Verge, Mastodon, another decentralized platform, leaped from roughly 300,000 to 2.5 million monthly active users between October and November 2022, right after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. That surge happened almost overnight, underlining how quickly users will shift when centralized platforms falter.
Modern users no longer want mass appeal – they want alignment. They want platforms that reflect their values, their communities, and their pace.
Bluesky’s model, grounded in decentralization and transparency, is engineered for this. That’s the foundation of the next wave.
We’re already seeing signs of this shift. Bluesky surpassed 36.5 million users, and TechCrunch says that developers are now building entire niche social apps on its AT Protocol, evidence that Bluesky is a scalable infrastructure layer for decentralized experiences.
Influence Is Evolving
At Avenue Z, we think about influence as a system, not a metric. The most powerful platforms are the ones that build trust through structure, clarity, and control.
Bluesky, at its best, has the chance to be more than just a product. It can become protocol-level infrastructure – a platform that goes beyond timelines and powers ecosystems.
To get there, it will need:
- Clear monetization models that prioritize creator sovereignty
- Robust moderation protocols that protect quality over chaos
- Design thinking that puts user customization at the core
These are opportunities for strategic refinement.
Value Doesn’t Equal Virality
The next wave of digital influence won’t be won by those who scale the fastest – it will be led by those who build with intention. Success isn’t being “the next Twitter.” It’s creating a platform where meaningful connections can thrive without centralized control.
Take Discord for example. It grew into a $15B+ platform not by chasing mass-market appeal, but by tightly serving niche gaming and creator communities. Its slow, community-first approach mirrors the long-game Bluesky is playing.
At Avenue Z, we help brands and platforms navigate this shift. Because as digital ecosystems evolve, so must our understanding of what influence really means.
If you’re building for the next wave of digital influence, let’s talk.
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