Bluesky, the Woke competitor to X, just proved that its platform is effectively worthless after it made more money selling tee shirts than…running the site for two years.
At a glance:
- Bluesky CEO Jay Graber wore a t-shirt at SXSW mocking Mark Zuckerberg with the Latin phrase “Mundus sine Caesaribus” (a world without Caesars)
- The $40 t-shirts sold out in just 30 minutes after being made available to the public
- Bluesky’s COO confirmed they made more money in one day of t-shirt sales than in two years of selling custom domains
- The design was a direct response to Zuckerberg’s own shirt featuring “Aut Zuck aut nihil” (Zuck or nothing)
- Bluesky is a decentralized, open-source social media platform that contrasts with Meta’s centralized model
T-Shirt Troll Turns Major Profit
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber struck gold when she showed up at her SXSW keynote wearing a t-shirt that subtly mocked Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The shirt featured the Latin phrase “Mundus sine Caesaribus,” which translates to “a world without Caesars,” a clear jab at Zuckerberg’s well-known fascination with ancient Rome.
User response was so enthusiastic that Bluesky quickly made the shirt available for purchase at $40 each. The demand was overwhelming, with the initial batch selling out in approximately 30 minutes and forcing the company to reopen orders on their Shopify page.
But it wasn’t as much of a win as they thought – because it turns out the platform made more money selling tee shirts than it did…just functioning as a social media site.
Unexpected Revenue Stream Emerges
Bluesky’s Chief Operating Officer Rose Wang announced that the company generated more revenue from a single day of t-shirt sales than from two years of selling custom domains.
Wang even joked about the unexpected success on the platform, writing, “That’s it. Pivoting to a tshirt company…”
And while it was meant to be a joke, it actually reflects terribly on a website that was allegedly serving a much-needed niche. It turns out that people maybe don’t hate Musk and X in the kind of numbers this platform thought they did.
The t-shirt’s message aligns with Bluesky’s core philosophy as a decentralized, open-source alternative to platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Unlike Meta’s centralized control model, Bluesky allows developers to contribute to its growth and emphasizes user freedom.
But you also can’t say men are men and women are women without being banned on the platform, so…
During her SXSW appearance, Graber emphasized this contrast by explaining how Bluesky’s structure protects users from the whims of tech billionaires.
“If a billionaire came in and bought Bluesky, or took it over, or if I decided tomorrow to change things in a way that people really didn’t like, then they could fork off and go on to another application,” she stated.
Are you still reading this? We got bored just writing about these people…
