Mastodawn

Elena Rossini ⁂

Mike Masnick, who sits on the board of #Bluesky, claims the team was too busy to announce the series B funding (see screenshot).

But something is fishy.

Even the VC firm - Bain Capital Crypto - isn't listing Bluesky anywhere on their website: https://baincapitalcrypto.com/portfolio/

Why the mystery? Was Bluesky afraid of a public backlash & asked to keep the information under wraps?

Sorry if I keep repeating myself but I will forever be skeptical of Bluesky and think of the tale of the scorpion and the frog.

WTL 1d ago

@_elena Very sketchy behaviour, for certain.

Michael Santaly 1d ago

@_elena Yea. I’m hopefully that projects like Blacksky can completely break free of Bluesky, but being ignorant of how the tech works I worry there’s some kind of rug pull to come

ikuturso 🇪🇺1d ago

@wonkothesane well when the userbase is mostly on Bluesky and likely to stay there I don't really see the ability to completely break free as very realistic. It's also true their retained control absolutely allows them to rug pull no matter how many times they say "credible exit".

derptron 1d ago

@ikuturso @wonkothesane @_elena The idea of a personal data server is a good one but it needs some stuff. You should be able to put permissions on things and manage who has access. In AT it's all public.

Should also be able to manage what relays pull what. Be able to negotiate with relays to get into feeds (you're a journalist and want to publish to a journal so you ask to be on their relays).

There's stuff to like about AT. Someone was working on a good idea before VC's got it.

@ikuturso
@wonkothesane @_elena

Kent Navalesi ☕️1d ago

My guess is that, now that some alternative PDS's are coming online, they're going to rush to stipulate some enshittifying terms for them to connect to the main Bsky server. Allow ads (or data harvesting, or whatever) or lose access to 99% of users.

patpro 1d ago

@_elena Bain Capital Crypto is involved in the European project supposed to create an alternative to GitHub. Super red flag, I think.
https://goodtech.info/tangled-levee-fonds-alternative-open-source-github/

🚀 Tangled : l'alternative open source à GitHub lève 3,8 millions d'euros

Décentralisation, souveraineté numérique et protocole AT : on vous explique comment Tangled veut bousculer le monopole de Microsoft sur le code.

Goodtech

ikuturso 🇪🇺1d ago

@patpro that's another project that is building on Bluesky (ATproto) so even without the funding not being so european now it already has dependencies to the US platform and I guess BCC funding both it and Bluesky is not suprising when they are part of the same ecosystem...
@_elena

@patpro I didn't know this and... yikes. Thanks for sharing this

Daniël Franke

1d ago

@_elena @patpro Indeed, but do we need a European SlopHub if @Codeberg already exists?

patpro 1d ago

@ainmosni @_elena
This is never about what people need. It’s about what ploutocrates want (control).
@Codeberg

Chip Butty 1d ago

@ainmosni @_elena @patpro @Codeberg we do need something like 50 to 500 codebergs

@_elena And this is how I find out that he's on their board. 😅

Even if Bsky themselves and some of their staff actions didn't raise alarms from the get go for me. The fact that they are located in the US under current administration and the lack of autonomy does.

I'm happy I finally took the plunge and made them my back up social media and Mastodon my primary. I like some of the utility over there, but it's already doing the spiral I watched Twitter doing before leaving there.

@707Kat this is the way! (Mastodon as primary and Bluesky as backup) 🙌

Erik 1d ago

@707Kat @[email protected] They're really speedrunning the cycle!

@erikcats "By the magic of AI ✨"

Erik 1d ago

@707Kat 😂😂😂 I hate it but I'm laughing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2guHaoY2_Y

@erikcats Haha that was my intend. 😂

You'll probably laugh watching this as well.

TLDW; Video goes over how OpenAI has had to hire a projectlead who is now raising alarm about all of their unfinished projects going nowhere other than wasting money and resources.

AI is decreasing productivity

YouTube

Erik 1d ago

@707Kat they sell vibe more than anything, so all projects trumps product (see Ee-lahn Mushk for reference).

But you're wrong, the video had me facepalming 😂 good video!

@erikcats I believe facpalming should be a standard response to what's been happening with this tech for the past couple of years.

ikuturso 🇪🇺1d ago

@_elena it's insane to think people would believe this "explanation"...

Mr.Mark "The Sharpie King"1d ago

@_elena
Thanks for highlighting this.
Bsky smells of narrative capture to me, much like Substack, (who are now teaming up with prediction markets)

@markmetz 🎯 you nailed it (at least, that's my interpretation, too)

Mr.Mark "The Sharpie King"1d ago

@_elena
I’m glad to see the work you’re doing, your article was excellent. I shared it far and wide. Verification is another huge issue that Mastodon solves. I also did an interview with some grad students from Denmark, who are working on the Fediverse, and I sent them your article too.

bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵1d ago

@markmetz @_elena what's narrative capture?

Mr.Mark "The Sharpie King"1d ago

@bazkie @_elena
This article explains it better than I can.

https://america2.news/without-sky-social-media-and-the-end-of-reality/

Without Sky: Social Media and the End of Reality

People are flocking to Bluesky in droves, but creators and users should think critically about the risk of capture by potentially hostile investors.

America 2.0

bazkie 👩🏼‍💻 bitplanes 🎵1d ago

@markmetz thanks i'll give it a read later :)

Ted Mielczarek 1d ago

@_elena all the startups I've worked for have blasted out press releases the moment their funding rounds closed. Part of being a startup means constantly vying for attention. This explanation does not hold up.

william.maggos 1d ago

@tedmielczarek @_elena

Is there any requirement to make it public within 1 year? otherwise I wonder why they're announcing it at all.

Anthony 1d ago

@[email protected] @[email protected] I have had the same experience. I co-founded a startup in 2016 that managed to secure a funding round, and the VCs themselves were giddy about announcing it as widely as possible. I've consulted for startups both before and after that, and as far as I'm aware every one of them that secured funding rapidly announced it. This explanation from Bluesky does not pass a basic smell test.

d@nny disc@ mc² 1d ago

@tedmielczarek @_elena series B is one of the stages that represents a categorical step up in financing and control structures. series G like sure at that point people tend to stop counting but B is still a champagne event

Jan Wildeboer 😷

1d ago

@_elena Maybe the deal is in cryptocurrency, not actual dollars?

AL (not Al)1d ago

@_elena Yeah, this excuse is baloney.

samiamsam 1d ago

sure that amount of VC cash slipped their minds

sure

Aubrey De Los Destinos 1d ago

@_elena @benroyce Mike was a surprise with his siding with Bluesky.

ben 1d ago

@_elena Yeah, I don't believe this for one minute.

Considering what a big deal it is for most companies to successfully raise VC money, they want us to believe that it wasn't important enough to make time to announce it? Any other company would drop everything to shout it from the rooftops.

And a funding round is a significant amount of work already, so are we supposed to believe that after all that work they had to put into it, they didn't schedule time to even do the tiniest announcement about it?

And like, I would have guessed that the VC firm itself also has PR people whose job it would be to help out with that, and they were still too busy? No.

Amoshias 1d ago

@_elena oh, Mike. oh, oh, oh, Mike.

I like the guy and appreciate what he does but just...

this isn't a thing.

does he think all the other companies are just sitting around eating bonbons, and this one specific company is busy?

mathew 1d ago

@Amoshias @_elena I’ve been really disappointed with Mike Masnick since he jumped on the corporate social network train.

Cairo Braga 1d ago

@_elena (can you link the post, please? I'd love to see how people are reacting to this "dog ate my homework"-ass excuse, lol)

Craig Michael Patrick 1d ago

@_elena @Jerry Curious if there’s a plan to monetize #Bluesky you are aware of? Two points to accent your post:

- criticism on #Mastodon initially feels like smearing a rival platform first, investigative reporting second. (Feel free to push back on that, it’s just the vibe I get when I read these articles)

- bureaucracy is an issue with brand communication. This MAY be what Bluesky is encountering because the United States needs to have a serious conversation about the illusion of brand

Jerry on Mastodon 1d ago

@craig_patrick @_elena
They aren't forthcoming about financing. So, as would be expected, they are not forthcoming about their monetization plans. These are 2 bad signs.

Then add in the gaslighting about why major funding went unmentioned by both Bluesky and the VCs: "Everyone at Bluesky is just so gosh dang busy nobody had time to mention it." This is the gaslighting we see daily in the news. "I'll give you an obvious, nonsensical excuse, but still expect you to believe it because you all are gullible and emotion-driven."

@Jerry @craig_patrick thank you Jerry. “Gaslighting” is a perfect way to describe that nonsensical response.

What’s super creepy is that Bain Capital also kept the info under wraps. For a full year! I never heard of anything like this… the kind of news that is usually shouted from the rooftops (ESPECIALLY in this economy)

Mastodon Migration 1d ago

@_elena @Jerry @craig_patrick

Jerry has hit the nail on the head. We have become so used to the constant stream of lies from politicians and the tech industry that we have become desensitized to them.

It used to be that people were more more careful, because being caught in a lie held consequences. Now everyone simply lies with impunity confidant in the knowledge that nothing will come of it.

This degrading of society has real consequences.

Jerry on Mastodon 1d ago

@mastodonmigration @_elena @craig_patrick
Yes! Exactly!

sberson 1d ago

Venture Capital is based on one essential paradigm: an investment now, will be rewarded by a larger return later.
Generally with social media ventures the plan is to establish growth of numbers first, by offering as clean & quality service as possible, lock people in via walled gardens & "network effect", and then make gradual introductions of ads, promoted posts, & payments for "premium services" that were once included.
The ATProtocol has WAY less potential for "walled garden" than most designs though - me being able to view & post to Bluesky via my completely separate WAFRN account is proof of that.
STILL, if a specifically for-profit org ponies up $100million of cash money, they are doing that in expectation of being able to make a lot more than that back.

katzenberger 1d ago

Does not add up.

Did they secure a $100 million funding en passant, while being otherwise "crazy busy and overwhelmed" by their development work?

And if they were instead crazy busy and overwhelmed precisely because of trying to secure that funding, what kept them from taking the final step of a press release?

That's not even fishy. It's an insult.

Mastodon Migration 1d ago

This is an absurd and transparent lie, that reflects very badly on Mike Masnick.

We are talking about a $100M investment, and he is asking people to believe they were just "too busy." Hogwash.

@mastodonmigration it’s the first time in the entire history of capitalism that a company wouldn’t publicly boast about raising 100 million dollars

@[email protected] @[email protected]

ozoned 1d ago

They JUST found it between the couch cushions.

Mastodon Migration (@[email protected])

48K Posts, 1.6K Following, 34.1K Followers · Sharing advice and assisting with the great migration, plus various thoughts and perspectives. Banner Artwork: Julio Lacerda https://linktr.ee/julio.lacerda Avatar Artwork: Brandon Pilcher https://brandonpilchersart.com Individual account not representing any entity or organization. Curates: @[email protected] @[email protected] #mastodonmigration #twittermigration

Mastodon

Mark ⛵️🏳️‍🌈1d ago

@ozoned @mastodonmigration @_elena brb, off to check my couch cushions... 🤞🏻

@[email protected] @[email protected]

ozoned 1d ago

And you know who can never be used to make that money back?

US!

We're FREE.

Folks like BSKY, idk why. But they'll either stay or they'll leave. If they leave, they're not going back to Twitter. If they stay, maybe they don't know or maybe they don't know how good we are. Or maybe they have something we need.

How can we turn this into a strength to HELP people move over?

Bonfire is AMAZING imo. It's not Mastodon. We have so many options, we just need to convince folks that this way is better and we can suit them however they need.

Mastodon Migration (@[email protected])

Mastodon

Mike Fraser 1d ago

@_elena I'm not going to mince words here, that's either total bullshit from Mike or incompetence from the team, or both. You've just received 100 mil in the bank and you can't get a staffer to spend an hour writing a press release. The real hold up was figuring out how they were going to explain it which they still haven't done.

derptron 1d ago

@_elena He makes it sound like it's me trying to file my taxes on time or something. Anxiety disorder creating artificial roadblocks and "forgetting". I'm also the "CEO" of a software company but mine isn't going anywhere at all, like EVER.

I wonder if he's on SSI. I've been considering it...

And the whole team has it!!?? I'm sorry. That must be a real mess to manage. Does everyone panic at the same time or y'all take turns?

We take turns.

⁂ L. Rhodes 1d ago

@_elena I don't know what the going rate on hiring an intern is at the moment, but I bet $100 million would cover it.

Caio C. G. Oliveira 1d ago

@_elena well... This is really disappointing. I have never trusted BlueSky but I have trusted Mike Masnick. His response is really not convincing at all.

Lee from Colorado 1d ago

@_elena Masnick has certainly revealed a previously hidden side of himself in all the BS BS ...