Bluesky’s Flashes could disrupt Instagram’s hold on photo sharing and social ads

The news: Bluesky, which is already competing with X and Meta’s Threads in the microblogging space, is gearing up to take on Instagram in the photo-sharing space with its new app, Flashes.

Coming in a few weeks, Flashes could entice Instagram users who are growing disillusioned with Meta deprioritizing prior diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as well as the company’s dismissal of content moderation practices. 

Bluesky’s alternatives to Meta services: Bluesky, which offers a decentralized alternative to billionaire-owned platforms like X and Meta, has been steadily gaining momentum and now has over 27.5 million users.

• Bluesky has pushed back on ads and monetization, but could easily make Flashes the avenue for ads and shopping content along with user-generated content.
• A new photo-sharing platform could entice users and advertisers responding to calls to boycott Meta and its platforms. 
• Bluesky is also planning to launch a video-only app called Blue Screen, a potential competitor to TikTok and Instagram’s Reels, per TechCrunch.

Millions of users up for grabs: Social media users unhappy with the current state of X and Meta are likely to seek alternatives. Bluesky has a unique opportunity to provide similar platforms for text-based and photo-sharing social media.

• The prospect of Flashes could be enticing for users clamoring for early Instagram, which was devoid of ads and more focused on community-building. 
• However, expanding across various social media platforms could take a toll on Bluesky, which is reported to have around 20 full-time employees, per NPR.

Our take: The turmoil at Meta and potential advertiser fallout provides a rare opportunity for Bluesky to grab market share. But scaling multiple social media platforms to compete with established players could be a difficult task without added investments and staff.

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