Bluesky Has Predictable Growing Pains
In the last few weeks, one of the winners of the rush of users away from X has been Bluesky, so much so that more conventions are starting to create accounts there, mirroring their posts from X. Users report a feeling of community much like early Twitter. Unfortunately, Bluesky now has many of early Twitter’s problems:
Filk News reports that it is no longer safe to post public Zoom meeting links to Bluesky. (Bluesky added 1-to-1 direct messages in May, but still has no group DMs.)
Bluesky’s content moderation capacity is being overwhelmed by impersonators and all sorts of unsavory material. Even after quadrupling the size of its moderation team, Bluesky has 100 contractors policing over 20 million users.
It has grown so fast that it is struggling to keep up with EU regulations for online platforms.
Bluesky eventually needs to make money, which will likely send it down the path of what Cory Doctorow dubbed “enshittification”.
Does this mean your con shouldn’t move to Bluesky after all? Not necessarily. Bluesky’s own statistics show a slight drop-off in the last couple weeks (though with a caveat that numbers after November 15 may be “incomplete”), but nothing to say that it’s a flash in the pan. It is, again, just a situation to look at where your particular community is going— and be ready that someday it will move again.
In Brief
Seattle Worldcon 2025 (Seattle, Washington, August 13-17) has announced preliminary plans to move most of the World Science Fiction Society Business Meeting forward to virtual events before the convention. Many details are still yet to be announced.
Fan Expo Portland (Portland, Oregon, January 17-19) has added Tyler Hoechlin.
The Great Con-Junction (Borehamwood, UK, February 8-9) has added Valerie Charlton, John Coppinger, Michael McCormick, and Robbie Barnett.
Event Calendar
Weekend of December 6-8
Nordcon: The Weird West, Jastrzębia Góra, Poland
XXVIII Mereth Aderthad (Tolkien), Altafulla, Spain
Dragonsteel Nexus 2024 (Brandon Sanderson), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Smofcon 41 (con-running), SeaTac, Washington, USA
Midwest Furfest: Heist (anthropomorphic), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
FURUM 2024: Furkini Bottom (anthropomorphic), Selangor, Malaysia
TsunamiCon (gaming), Wichita, Kansas, USA
PAX Unplugged (tabletop gaming), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Shorehammer (miniatures gaming), Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Emerald Con (Pathfinder & Starfinder RPGs), Bellevue, Washington, USA and online
30 Manga Barcelona (anime), Barcelona, Spain
Otaku U III: Junior Year (anime), Livonia, Michigan, USA
Yama Con (anime), Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA
Anime Wonder Festival, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Anime Frontier, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Maui Comic Con, Kahului, Hawaii, USA
Tokyo Comic Con, Tokyo, Japan
Comic Con Okinawa, Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan
GalaxyCon Columbus (media), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Creation Nashville (media), Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
CCXP 24 (media), São Paulo, Brazil
Weekend of December 13-15
Sac Gamers Expo (video games), Sacramento, California, USA
Anime Weekend Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Permian Basin Comic Con Holiday Edition X, Midland, Texas, USA
Ocean City Comic Con, Ocean City, Maryland, USA
Weekend of December 20-22
Winter Furry Fusion, Shanghai, China
CEOtaku (anime fighting games), Orlando, Florida, USA
Con+Alt+Delete (anime), Rosemont, Illinois, USA
KisuuCon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA
Holiday Matsuri (anime), Orlando, Florida, USA
Nashville Anime Day, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA
Comic Fiesta, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Weekend of December 27-29
Furvester 6: Into the Cyberspace (anthropomorphic), Reutlingen, Germany
New Year’s Furry Ball, Newark, Delaware, USA
OKiCon (anime), Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Comic Market 105 (fan-made comics), Tokyo, Japan
Weekend of January 3-5
ShadowCon XXVIII (relaxacon), Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Anthro Northwest 7 (anthropomorphic), Seattle, Washington, USA
Painted Desert Fur Con: Camping in the Canyon (anthropomorphic), Phoenix, Arizona, USA
TundraCon 2025 (gaming), Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Everwinter (miniatures gaming), Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
SacAnime, Sacramento, California, USA
Anime-ZAP!, East Peoria, Illinois, USA
Animate! Raleigh (anime), Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Coda
The Dull Men’s Club (New York Magazine, hat tip: Money Stuff)
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