I am one of the 10 million+ users who have signed up for BlueSky since November, drawn by the promise of connecting with other users in a healthier and fun social media environment. I curate my feed so that it strikes a good balance of insight, news, and entertainment — for me, that means sandwiching worrisome stories from trustworthy news outlets between pictures of cute pets and funny memes.
Whatever our individual content preferences, I think most BlueSky users appreciate that the platform prioritizes positive user experiences over clickbait-driven algorithms or advertisements. This reflects the more holistic approach to putting the user community’s well-being at the heart of decision-making—a principle of ‘stakeholder capitalism’ that, if championed, can make BlueSky a model for responsible platforms and protect its longevity.
Now is the time for the company and its Directors to put in place governance and other guardrails that will allow it to maintain this user-centric focus as it grows and – inevitably – faces mounting pressure to monetize its services or minimize investments in trust and safety.
BlueSky incorporated as a public benefit corporation, which is a good start. Its PBC status obligates the company to consider its stakeholders when making decisions. But, this should be the beginning rather than the end of its journey as a mission-driven company.
As a next step, BlueSky could pair its commitment to open-source architecture with a commitment to transparency in its operational impacts. It could certify as a B Corporation – which would require it to adhere to rigorous third-party standards of corporate conduct – or benchmark itself against its more mature peer companies using the Digital Inclusion Benchmark provided by the World Benchmarking Alliance. Such tools will help the company understand and improve its impact on a range of material areas like bias, disinformation and carbon emissions.
BlueSky has taken venture capital to fund its growth, even as it has opted against the approaches to revenue generation that have enriched investors in other social media companies. As it continues to grow, the company will have to protect its identity as a user-centric platform while figuring out how to make money for its investors.
Arguably the most important thing BlueSky can do to successfully navigate these waters is to invest in governance mechanisms that protect its mission.
Luckily the company does not need to invent these mechanisms from scratch, and can instead stand on the shoulders of other pioneers. Anthropic codified its commitment to AI safety by creating a special class of shares controlled by a Long-Term Benefit Trust that has the right to appoint a growing share of its Directors over time. As its founders approached retirement, Patagonia chose to adopt a ‘steward ownership model’ by creating a perpetual purpose trust owned by a nonprofit organization. And before either of those innovations, companies like REI and the Green Bay Packers formed as cooperatives owned by their customers and fans respectively.
It is harder to steer a large incumbent than a nimble start-up, so the best time for BlueSky to make these changes is now. Doing so will also help the company build and maintain trust from its millions of new users, and further differentiate itself from competitors. After all, users don’t have to look hard to find examples of what happens when a company does not have adequate guardrails in place.
Margot Brandenburg is a Senior Program Officer at Ford Foundation
