"According to Silver, Blueskyism embodies a newfangled ideology comprising "all the characteristics that make progressivism unappealing to normal people"-the same qualities, Silver argues, that prevent Democrats from recouping electoral favor. As with any good social-media bit, Silver later doubled down, fleshing out the concept in his newsletter, Silver Bulletin. Bluesky, designed to be a nontoxic social network, has been overwhelmed by "aggressive policing of dissent," "moral micropanics," and an insularity derived from its population of academics and experts."
"Silver is not completely wrong; there is indeed a culture of recursive, reactionary scolding on Bluesky that makes it less fun than it could be. (On the platform, X is euphemistically referred to as "the other place.") It's impossible to generalize about the entire population of the site-many of Bluesky's users do not post in English and do not engage with American politics-yet it has developed an identity as a haven for liberals in the aftermath of Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter."
Blueskyism denotes cultural tendencies on the decentralized network Bluesky, including aggressive policing of dissent, frequent moral micropanics, and an insularity rooted in a population of academics and experts. Those tendencies produce recursive, reactionary scolding that reduces conviviality and makes the platform feel less enjoyable. Many Bluesky users do not post in English and do not engage with American politics, yet the site has acquired an identity as a liberal haven after Twitter's ownership changes and political shifts. Platform choice increasingly signals personal politics, requiring users to tolerate or accept an ambient ideological tone and deepening sectarianism in online political debate.
Read at The New Yorker
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