So this one is actually a pretty important concept and it's not one that's unique to technology either. Decentralization is a type of structure that—well—has no center. I'll explain.

The traditional apps and services that you use are centralized—they operate on a single point. Instagram is run on Instagram's servers and only Meta is allowed to access them and create new servers that work with their network. iMessage is operated entirely by Apple, all of the messages flow through their servers and nobody else is able to connect a server to the network.

Restaurant chains are centralized; they may have many different locations, but they are owned and operated by the corporation. Restaurant franchises on the other hand are decentralized. There's a corporation that owns the trademark and branding, but anyone can buy a franchise and run it. They're free to tap into some systems that the corporation builds and maintains, but ultimately, it's their franchise.

Note: The following section contains terms and information that's explained in the linked article below, feel free to read that one too!

To Save Us from Big Tech More People Need to Learn About Computers | Sam Clemente | Offprint

Really there's only so much we as developers can do to make using technology as easy as possible to understand

Apps like Bluesky are decentralized. Anyone can create a server that taps into the Atmosphere (funnily enough the software that some of these servers run is called 'Tap'), and anyone can take the Bluesky app's code and run it themselves. Apps like Blacksky and Mu do this already. They look and work mostly like Bluesky's own website, but they are run by independent groups and customized to the communities they're built for. Bluesky doesn't have the ability to govern those servers, and they have no access to them.

The Personal Data Store, or PDS component of the Atmosphere is also decentralized. Anyone can create a server that runs the PDS software that Bluesky cannot control. This means that people are able to work with people they trust to store their online data instead of having no other choice but to give your data to the corporation.

Why Any of This Matters

The bottom line here is this: with decentralized social networks like this, no corporation is in control of the whole network. If Bluesky makes a change you don't like, you can use your same account to log into another site without any issue. If Bluesky runs out of money and disappears, everyone else would still be able to continue on without them.

These other groups like Blacksky and Mu, who run their own versions of the website are also working on running their own versions of the app on your phone as well. It's not another app you have to download to talk to other people, there's no "big exodus" like there was when Twitter was turned into X, it's just a different app to access the same network. Your account, your posts, your follows, your followers, and basically everything else are all accessible when you log in with your same account and you can totally delete the Bluesky app with no issue.

Investing more time and energy into these decentralized systems limits the amount of control that corporations are able to exert on networks. If Instagram were to shut down, you'd lose all of your posts, all of your follows, all of your conversations, all of your connections; you're entirely beholden to Meta. But a different way to enjoy the internet without corporate control exists through decentralization.