Bluesky, one of several alternatives to Twitter / X launched in 2023, has opened itself up to new users without invite codes after previously being quite restrictive with people wanting to check out the platform.

Anybody can now "skeet," hop on the "hellthread" or post Sensual Alf. What was once a walled garden is now an open meadow.

Bluesky had a moment of viral fame in the spring of 2023, as journalists and others hopped onto the new platform amid widespread discontent with Elon Musk's leadership of Twitter / X.

The decentralized platform joined a series of other new platforms that mimicked Twitter's microblogging style, such as Threads, Post.News and Mastodon.

Then, a series of controversies over content moderation decisions (notably, failing to act quickly to remove racial slurs in usernames) led to widespread criticism of Bluesky and a posting strike over the summer. The media buzz around Bluesky died down considerably, especially after the launch of Meta's competitor Threads.

Following the announcement, some Bluesky users have wondered what they would do with their once-coveted invite codes now that the platform is open and free for anyone to sign up.

Meanwhile, many X users posted their Bluesky handles, urging their followers to migrate over to the new and open platform.

The future of the social internet remains uncertain, but Bluesky has a theory.

Bluesky is not just a social media platform, but an open-source decentralized protocol run by a nonprofit. It allows users to customize their algorithms and experiences, building off Bluesky the way they build off of the World Wide Web itself.

Whether the opening of the platform to non-invited users will get the pace of posting going again is an open question. Some of Bluesky's highest-profile users have not "skeeted" (or is it "skote"?) in months.

Jake Tapper, the CNN news anchor who said the word "skeet" on live television, has not personally skeeted in three months.