Sorry for the very long thread!

Just wanted to get this all out there so I can link to it if anyone else asks.

Now if there's a learning and growing that happens... I'll be back! This is the closest I've seen to a platform that *could* work at global scale.

Mastodon is solving a different problem.

But it's a safer place for me to be until atproto has at least a couple alternative platforms on it.

I spent the last decade as a management consultant / exec advisor for several different businesses (one of which was much bigger than Bluesky in revenue + team size) trying to design sustainable revenue models that take network effects into account.

I don't see it here, so I gotta go.

I believe in the good intentions of the team and even in the lack of *active* ill-intent from the person I'm referring to here, and I did have a meaningful convo in private where I felt heard and was told that my notes have been passed on to the team.

But I also make my own choices on principle.

It turned my stomach to see that team member playfully say things like "Should I delete that post for you since its an ad?" when it was a link to some small individual creator's work.

To think that's what we've got shaping strategy at one of the world's most influential platforms is very unsettling

All of this triggered alarm bells of tech startup culture where engineers + product designers lead efforts and there's a lack of seriousness about building real, sustainable business models, and a lack of responsibility to use power and visibility appropriately and be mindful of differentials.

I observed one of Bluesky's most visible team members poking fun at and being unkind to someone who runs a small account here for questioning their intentions, and that same person treated me very poorly as well until they realized I had a nuanced argument to make.

notes.skillstopractice.com/updates/2025...

I had assumed that Bluesky had made a commitment to seek a self-sustaining business model that didn't involve ad revenue and I was wrong about that, even though prior conversations with the team made me believe otherwise.

Right, it was merged: github.com/ruby/ruby/pu...