In March, Jay Graber resigned from his position as CEO of Bluesky to take on the role of chief innovation officer. He was promptly succeeded by Toni Schneider, the founding CEO of Automattic, the company behind platforms like WordPress and Tumblr.
Schneider, who has served as the interim CEO for the past four months, will now officially assume the role of permanent chief executive.
“I’ve been in this interim position for four months, and it’s time to share some news,” Schneider stated on his personal blog. “Most importantly, I am now officially the CEO of Bluesky. I am fully committed to our mission and to this role.”
In his blog post, Schneider outlined his immediate goals, which include fostering “smaller spaces and more private communities” to facilitate the next phase of growth and innovation for the platform.
Bluesky has attracted investments from Automattic and True Ventures, where Schneider is also a partner.
Originally a spinoff from Twitter, Bluesky has become a refuge for those seeking an alternative to the changes introduced by Elon Musk after he acquired Twitter in 2022, a platform now rebranded as X and turned into a subsidiary of Musk’s integrated rocket and AI enterprise, SpaceXAI.
During Graber’s tenure, Bluesky expanded its user base to 43 million, while also significantly developing its underlying technology, the AT Protocol, which allows Bluesky and other applications to operate within the same social network.
However, recent reports suggest that the platform has faced challenges in maintaining or growing its user community, with some observers raising concerns about its viability due to dwindling engagement and user activity. Following a surge in users amidst Donald Trump’s political activities, Bluesky appears to have experienced a decline since that peak.
In summary, Schneider has significant challenges ahead, but he seems optimistic about the future. “We are just at the start of this journey,” he remarked last Friday.
