When Bluesky CEO Jay Graber took the SXSW stage this week, she managed to make enjoyable of Mark Zuckerberg with out mentioning Meta in any respect. Her black t-shirt was emblazoned with black textual content stretching throughout the chest and sleeves, just like the model of a t-shirt that the billionaire founder wore at an occasion final 12 months. Graber’s shirt declared in Latin, Mundus sine Caesaribus. Or, “a world with out Caesars.”
On Bluesky, customers expressed such pleasure over Graber’s t-shirt that the platform determined to sell replicas to boost cash for its developer ecosystem.
The $40 shirt obtainable in sizes S – XL bought out in roughly 30 minutes.
Zuckerberg has drawn comparisons between himself and the Roman dictator Julius Caesar — the actual shirt of his that Graber is referencing mentioned Aut Zuck aut nihil, or “Zuck or nothing.” It’s a nod to the Latin phrase Aut Caesar aut nihil, befitting of the Roman chief’s regime. (Sure, it’s bizarre that Zuck goes out of his option to evaluate himself to a violent dictator).
Although it’s tiny in comparison with Meta’s empire, Bluesky’s decentralized, open supply infrastructure imagines a type of social media the place particular person executives don’t maintain all the ability.
It creates the chance for any developer to contribute to the platform’s development. So, Graber’s shirt isn’t only a petty swipe at a a lot bigger competitor — it represents the ethos that Bluesky is attempting to stay as much as.
“If a billionaire got here in and acquired Bluesky, or took it over, or if I made a decision tomorrow to vary issues in a approach that individuals actually didn’t like, then they might fork off and go on to a different software,” Graber mentioned at SXSW. “There’s already functions within the community that offer you one other option to view the community, or you possibly can construct a brand new one as nicely. And in order that openness ensures that there’s all the time the power to maneuver to a brand new various.”
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