The Social Media Scene: Comparing Bluesky, Threads, and Mastodon

The social media landscape is a dynamic terrain that constantly brings forth new platforms. Bluesky aims to bring back the feeling of the early days of Twitter. Its advantages include easy networking through user-created "starter packs" and reinforced social responsibility through the company structure of a public benefit corporation. However, the user base is predominantly English-speaking and tends to lean politically to the left. Some describe the atmosphere as energetic, but regular technical disruptions can be bothersome. The main focus is on news enthusiasts and political analysts—in short, nerds. Threads, the Instagram alternative to the microblogging service, primarily attracts celebrities and lifestyle influencers while serving a considerable user community of around 275 million monthly active users. Despite its notable popularity, Threads remains relatively insular due to strong AI-driven moderation and algorithmic feed notifications. While politics is not entirely excluded, the platform is inherently calmer and more integration-friendly with Instagram. The third player in the market, Mastodon, impresses with its decentralized structure. Users choose so-called "instances" operated by communities. This freedom brings increased complexity, but also the opportunity to operate in a tailor-made environment. The platform allows for individual customization and offers room for both free speech and strict moderation. While Threads attracts the masses, its compatibility with Mastodon's "Fediverse" is a promising feature for the future—a step towards possible harmonization of the different platforms.