Is Bluesky on the web? Yes, to an extent. I can post the url of an item I wrote on Bluesky, using an HTML link. That is how the web works. First you’re on my blog, or reading it somewhere else where my blog is projected, via RSS. Then you click an anchor element, and you’re instantly transported to Bluesky, to the specific place where my post is stored. In less than a second you’re reading the thing I referenced. That’s the web, right there.

But it doesn’t work the other way. They love it when you send people to their site, but not so much if you want to send them away. Sending people away is a sensitive concept to Bluesky’s investors. Why would you do that? This is not a new point where the web and silos disagree. The web says “let them go” and the silos ask “do we look like idiots?”

But they will support the web in both directions if they are forced to by competition or user expectations (pretty much the same thing). That’s why podcasting remains unsiloized after over 20 years. If people expect choice, they won’t use clients that don’t make it easy to switch.