Social Media Metrics

Date: 04-04-2026

Though decentralized protocols are still evolving, Bluesky has already surpassed 40 million users and continues to grow. However, some metrics are fluctuating—for example, the number of likes has decreased compared to last year.

Organic growth takes time, and likes are not the best metric for measuring the success of a social media platform. Decentralized platforms shouldn’t resort to enshittification like big tech just to attract users.

Rethinking Social Media Metrics: Beyond Likes and Growth

Decentralized platforms are not ad platforms; they are open-source, ad-free, and focused on quality over vanity metrics—which big tech platforms often ignore. If platforms start indulging in vanity metrics, they will fail to retain users who came looking for an alternative.

Better metrics should be:

  1. Meaningful time spent How much time users meaningfully spend on the platform

  2. Content quality Whether users discover meaningful content—or just AI-generated slop or disinformation

  3. Emotional impact Whether the platform leaves users with hope, or reinforces outrage and learned helplessness

  4. Mental health impact The long-term effect of the platform on users’ mental well-being

  5. Authenticity of users Whether it attracts real users—or is dominated by bots

  6. Fair distribution of attention Whether users get fair visibility and traffic to their external websites, blogs, and content—or if it’s suppressed by algorithms

  7. User retention over acquisition How well the platform retains existing users who come looking for an alternative—not just how many new users it acquires

  8. Creator sustainability Whether creators can grow and sustain themselves without resorting to clickbait or algorithm-chasing

  9. Algorithm transparency and control Whether users understand and can control what they see in their feed

  10. Diversity of viewpoints Whether the platform enables genuine diverse perspectives without amplifying polarization

  11. Signal-to-noise ratio The balance between high-quality content and spam, reposts, or low-effort content

  12. Resistance to manipulation How well the platform prevents bots, coordinated campaigns, and engagement farming

  13. Depth of community Whether meaningful communities and conversations are forming—not just passive scrolling

  14. Exit freedom (portability) Whether users can move their identity, followers, and content if the platform declines

Core idea: A good social platform doesn’t just capture attention—it preserves human agency.