“There is a place where the sky is blue and you will find me there.”

Gives you goosebumps, no? Thus spake Jolyon Maugham QC (he/him) announcing his departure flight to Bluesky, the relatively new kid on the social media block. Granted, it’s hardly “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”, but his phrasing does suggest he’s discovered a magical place, replete with unicorns and a floating lake.

He was not alone, it seems. Since the US election, there had been similar mass decrees, all deafeningly trumpeted across X, nee Twitter, from all sorts, with varying reasonings, the most prolific of which involved the words “Fascist”, “Far Right” and, of course, the now obligatory “Nazi”. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and a huge amount of dramatic door-slamming, but a noticeable lack of accounts being deactivated. Which remains curious. 

Still, the furore was too overwhelming to ignore. Messages were relayed back to X by the cartload! It was thrilling! “Finally, we’ve discovered a place where the wine flows, as old friends mingle together, where civil discourse is once again permitted, where the canapes are delicious” etc etc. You get the picture. So I just had to discover this Nirvana for myself. On 15th November 2024, I downloaded the Bluesky App.

I attempted to sign up using my own name, but quickly saw it was already taken by some wag pretending to be me, and “my” first post was, “I once saw Keir Starmer taking a poo in a Tesco carpark at midnight.” “Charmant,” as they’d say in Toulouse. A different handle was chosen, and I  wrote “Can I help you?”, “No, thanks. Just browsing at the moment…”. Obnoxious, but hardly offensive.  Next, I made an appeal to users who used to follow me on X to give me a wave so I could follow them back. And that’s when the dam burst…

Almost immediately, familiar swarms of trolls I’d blocked on X came zapping into my electrified swatter. I could describe what was said, but I feel it’ll give you a clearer picture if I simply quote a few examples. All spelling and grammar accurate.

“Let’s get this c**t blocked and chased off here, no terfs on Blueskye. James Dreyfus is one of the most spiteful UK terfs , probs in part to his failing acting career.” (Terf apparently stands for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist”…go figure)

“just so everyone knows, this f**kin loser is on here. here’s a link to block and report.”

“What’s this? A TERF invading a safe space to commit abuse. The very thing they accuse trans people of.”

“Here’s the link to his agent. Wouldn’t want to have him on your project bringing down the show”, courteously tagging in my employers as well. 

When people lie, misrepresent or defame me, I give back what I received, with extra relish and a side of fries

Many others continued in a similar vein. Lots of expletives, personal abuse, aggression etc. Most people who know me are aware that I’m often put into a position where I have to defend myself — sometimes vigorously. When people lie, misrepresent or defame me, I give back what I received, with extra relish and a side of fries — but, of course, they all pretended, operatically, that they were the real victims, and screeched incessantly about “being attacked”. Old tactics I’m familiar with, but they seem to work amongst a certain demographic.

However, the most telling remarks were these…

“What are you doing here, James? Honest question.”

“And you chose the trans-friendly site, of all the platforms available, because…?” 

The irony of these questions is not lost on those of us who are familiar with the Tickle Verses Giggle case in Australia, for example. (Do look it up. It’s quite the mess.) When had Bluesky, or any other social media app, been deemed a “safe space” for anyone? 

It goes without saying that of course it is desirable to have the somewhat naïve and innocent social media platforms we once had. Many remember and still dream of the early days when Twitter was full of photographs of meals, freshly cooked — but considering the sharp polarization that has plagued every single issue of recent years, perhaps that has become an unattainable goal? Maybe we have simply become too partisan to converse, exchange ideas and actually listen to each other? And although I remain skeptical, it would indeed be fortuitous to suddenly come across such a place. Ultimately, Bluesky is destined to go exactly the same way as every single platform that has come before, and there seems to be little any of us can do about that, so stubbornly aggressive and divided we have become.

The one deduction we might have collectively come to is that despite the best intentions these platforms always seem to descend into carnage

Social media is rather like reality television. Still relatively young, it is an ongoing experiment that has not yet produced any tangible or sensible reasons for its existence. There is no precedent. There is no end product. The one deduction we might have collectively come to is that despite the best intentions these platforms always seem to descend into carnage. More pertinently, why are we still surprised when this inevitably happens? Shallow philosophical theories aside, the blunt truth is that Bluesky is no better or worse than any other platform. Those who think it’s just peachy not to be challenged on anything adore it, and those who crave a free, occasionally feisty exchange of ideas might find it rather soporific. So, no change there, then.

The quote that best explains the current situation over there does not, however, belong to the Poet Laureate, Maugham, but to Rob Reiner, director of some truly wonderfully funny movies, who somewhat glumly posited the following missive…

“All the abuse and hate from Twitter has now spewed over to here. There seems no point anymore.”

Not a glowing endorsement of his fellow travellers, is it.