In the rapidly evolving world of technology, Bluesky is making its own mark. A rising star in the realm of social media platforms, Bluesky is quickly gaining popularity among tech enthusiasts and casual users alike. However, like any other tech platform, it has its own share of challenges.
The Outage Incident
“My feeds and notifications were very slow to load on the web and mobile while logged in.” – Jay Peters, The Verge
Earlier today, Bluesky users experienced an unexpected outage that left feeds and notifications slow to load. This incident was not isolated, affecting several users. The cause of this outage was traced back to a fiber cable cut at Cogent Communications, one of Bluesky’s internet providers.
Behind the Outage
An official statement from Cogent Communications confirmed the issue, stating, “Some customers transiting our Raleigh/Durham backbone network may be experiencing loss of network connectivity”. The issue, according to Bluesky spokesperson Emily Liu, lasted for approximately 15 to 30 minutes before normal service was resumed.
Developer Insights
Despite the short-lived outage, Bluesky developers had earlier warned users of potential issues. Developers Samuel Newman and Paul Frazee shed light on the issue. Newman mentioned the platform would be briefly going into read-only mode due to a hiccup in the system. Frazee, on the other hand, hinted at an ‘interesting day’ ahead, subtly warning users of potential site downtime.
In Frazee’s words, “If the site goes down, maybe grab a soda, pet the kitty.” He went on to explain that users might encounter issues like ‘Invalid Handle’ messages, likes not working, or ‘random errors or blank screens’ during an outage.
Bluesky’s Resilience
Despite the hiccups, Bluesky has proven its resilience. After a second significant outage, Bluesky developer Daniel Holmgren clarified that the site’s issues had nothing to do with their code. Rather, they were caused by a cut fiber cable, networking issues from their ‘bare metal provider’, and Cloudflare DNS issues, all occurring on their ‘highest traffic day ever’.
- Bluesky crossed the 15 million user mark
- The Bluesky app is currently the top free app in the App Store
Although Bluesky has seen a rapid surge in its user base, reaching the 15 million user mark, it still competes with larger platforms like Threads, which has seen over 15 million signups just this month. Nevertheless, the quick recovery and resilience of Bluesky, and its steady climb in popularity, indicate a promising future for this new entrant in the social media space.
Source: The Verge
