You can now access X alternative Bluesky without an account

Elon Musk's impact at X -- or Twitter as it was when he bought the company -- has broadly been seen as negative. While some have welcomed his maverick approach to managing the social platform, it left many others seeking a new home. Bluesky and Mastodon quickly emerged as viable alternatives, although Meta has attempted to muscle in on the action with Threads.

Each platform has its own set of pros and cons, but a major obstacle for Bluesky is that it remains invite-only. On top of this, it has not been possible for anyone without an account to view posts made by others -- but this is now changing, as is the platform's logo.

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While Bluesky is still invite-only (not that it is particularly difficult to get hold of an invite code) it is no longer necessary to be logged in to view posts. This, by extension, means that an account is not needed to view (most) posts.

This is a move that will undoubtedly work in Bluesky's favor because it increases the shareability of contents, and is likely to boost interest in the platform.

In a blog post about the change, company CEO Jay Gaber says:

We built Bluesky to be a home for public conversation -- breaking news, commentary and analysis, jokes and more. And we're taking one step closer to this goal by releasing a public web view, which means that you don't have to be logged in to view posts on Bluesky.

Starting today, you can easily view Bluesky posts without being logged in. Sharing will be more convenient -- whether it's a joke you want to text a friend, or a post you want to embed in an article.

Of course, this public accessibility will not appeal to all Bluesky users, so it's good to see that there is a setting to opt out of public visibility.

Dropping the need to be logged in to view content is not the only change at Bluesky; there is also a new butterfly logo. The company notes that this is a "symbol of change and transformation", and that the butterfly emoji was used by Bluesky users when sharing their handles.

Gaber explains:

Early on, we noticed that people were organically using the butterfly emoji 🦋 to indicate their Bluesky handles. We loved it, and adopted it as it spread. The butterfly speaks to our mission of transforming social media into something new.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, we are starting to open up. Posts on Bluesky have been public from the start through the open protocol, but today we're making them publicly accessible through the app. We're unfolding a little bit at a time, and are excited to bring you along on this journey of metamorphosis!

You can start browsing Bluesky here.