The Oxford Mail has decided to join Bluesky, as millions make the move to the social media platform.
Earlier this week, we began posting on Bluesky and have seen our following grow - and you can follow us there too.
The official Oxford Mail account username is @theoxfordmail.bsky.social.
Around one million users signed up for social media site Bluesky in the week following Donald Trump’s election win.
Bluesky is a social media platform where people can interact much as they do on X, posting, replying, as well as messaging one another on a vertical user interface.
It is perhaps unsurprising then that the site spun out of Twitter, now known as X, after its chief executive Jack Dorsey announced in 2019 that the giant would fund developers to create an “open and decentralised standard for social media”.
It officially launched as an independent platform in 2021 and is proving to be a popular destination for people who no longer wish to be on X.
As of last week, almost 20 million people have signed up to Bluesky and the number continues to grow daily. It is becoming an increasingly important space for news.
You will see us distributing our content on Bluesky and being more engaged with our followers as we continue to grow.
Compared to X, Bluesky offers users the chance to more heavily moderate their experience.
This includes the ability to select the algorithm that powers your experience, helping create custom feeds, for example a feed for mutual followers, a feed for cat photos or one for your special interest.
“We aim to replace the conventional ‘master algorithm’, controlled by a single company, with an open and diverse ‘marketplace of algorithms’,” the platform says.
Several MPs have already made the move to Bluesky including safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, Liberal Democrat technology spokeswoman and Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran and Mother of the House Diane Abbott.
US actress Jamie Lee Curtis has been vocal about her decision to leave X after she shared a screenshot confirming she had deactivated her account in a post on Instagram.
She can be found on Bluesky with more than 29,000 followers and has posted about her departure from X in a post which said: “#WeDontNeedX.”
TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham, Irish comedian Dara O’Briain and Countdown star Susie Dent are also among its users.
The Oxford Mail will also post some of the brilliant pictures and videos that our photographers and reporters capture across Oxfordshire.
The Oxford Mail will remain on X, formerly Twitter, as we continue to use it as a news-gathering source and to distribute our content to more than 90,000 followers.
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