<p><b>With Bluesky’s work to create a new approach to social networking, power will shift from social media providers to users themselves.</b></p>

<h4>In the news</h4> <p>How many times have you thought, “I’d love to lea<span class="text-normal">ve <i><span class="text-italic">&lt;insert social media platform here&gt;</span></i></span>, but I rely on it to stay in touch with old classmates, post jobs, see what my kid is up to at school.”</p> <p>Soon, you may be able to have it both ways: Leave the platform but move your account (and data) to a platform of your own choosing. Just recently, Bluesky—an initiative originally funded by Twitter but now operating as an independent company—<a href="https://blueskyweb.xyz/blog/10-18-2022-the-at-protocol" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">released more news about the protocol</a> it’s building for an open, decentralized approach to social media.</p> <p>This is the same standard promised by Jack Dorsey (Twitter founder and then-CEO) in 2019, when he <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1204766078468911106" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tweeted</a> about the formation of Bluesky and the goal for Twitter to ultimately be a client of this standard.</p> <p>As <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-bluesky-the-ultimate-solution-for-social-media-platforms" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this piece published by Nasdaq</a> explains, Bluesky “would allow separate social media networks to interact with each other via an open standard, despite each network having its own curation and moderation systems.”&nbsp;The idea would be to “de-silo” social media platforms and transfer control to individual users over how and where their content is used.</p> <p>The timing of Bluesky’s October announcement was exquisite, as the ever-controversial Elon Musk was simultaneously finalizing his purchase of Twitter and doing his usual impersonation of a bull in a china shop, causing many to cast a newly skeptical eye on Twitter specifically, and social media in general.</p> <h4>The Cognizant take</h4> <p>Some of the furor over changes at Twitter, and competing platforms, has died down. But the concept of a more open, less centralized social media environment where power is transferred to individuals is a positive one. Today’s murky social landscape, in which users cede enormous amounts of data to a few giants, often with little to no idea how it will be used and monetized, undermines both privacy and competition.</p> <p>While it’s too early for businesses to make concrete plans for what comes next—there is simply too little certainty—leaders should prepare for a large-scale fragmentation of sources of consumer information. The era of simply mining a few social platforms for deep data on prospects may be drawing to a close; the future promises harder work.</p> <p>Organizations that embrace and even encourage people to control their own personal information stand to generate enormous goodwill, as well as competitive advantage.</p>