At a time when no one seems to be able to agree on much at all… maybe we can all agree the first era of social media is ending.

Over two decades, social networks have evolved from simple tools for staying connected with friends and family into noisy, chaotic warehouses where data is auctioned off to the highest bidder and users are shouting into space, hoping for the next 100K impressions. It’s harder to make real connections and find a community, but emerging platforms like Bluesky could be positioned to buck the trend.

The Evolution of the Social Media Megaphone

We’ve learned a lot over the last 20+ years of social media, and much has been positive. In our healthcare and life sciences world, we have been able to use social media to blast through geographic, economic, and societal barriers to connect families who are among a few thousand dealing with the challenges of a rare disease. Even though many of these families had never even met another family with the same diagnosis, these platforms gave them a chance to talk to another mom or dad about tests, trials, diets, and treatments. This paved the way for more effective advocacy and disease awareness, pushing for more investment in research and faster regulatory processes. When a motivated parent can Tweet their Congressional representative, calling for action in a very public forum — things happen.

At the same time, scientists, researchers, laboratorians, geneticists, nurses, and clinicians found new ways to discuss their publications and analyze data together, pushing boundaries at lightning speed. Pharma and biotech industry leaders had chances to stay in touch with old colleagues, leading to partnerships that drove innovation. Investors were able to track these developments with insights straight from the source. Social media accelerated breakthroughs by making it easier to collaborate and learn about the latest advances in real-time.

Over time, however, this real-world impact started to fade. Individual thought leaders were drowned out by brand marketers. Social platforms needed to make money. In many cases, audience reach became pay-to-play. Rather than seeking fruitful discussions with a few hundred people…users started chasing followers, filling posts with hashtags. Everyone wanted to go viral. It was fun and exciting, and dopamine levels spiked with every “like.” While creativity flourished, community did not.

Ringing In The Next Generation

Now, we’ve entered the next generation of social media and users seem to be seeking closer, more meaningful social networks. Bluesky, in particular, has changed the conversation and seems to be providing a sense of relief for those who still crave social connections but can’t spend their energy digging through forced algorithms for valuable content.

Bluesky is not built for brand advertising (for now). As a result, the users are overwhelmingly real people using starter packs to connect with each other and talk about the news and issues that matter to them personally. “MedTwitter” quickly made the jump and got back to the basics of networking. Media outlets like STAT News and Endpoints News followed. Will patients and caregivers? Will pharma and biotech leaders? It seems to be only a matter of time.

The other refreshing aspect of Bluesky is that it’s open source. Right now, our industry partners are exploring innovative ways to build ” quiet ” domains — spaces designed for specific communities to engage with each other in peace, like a back room on a social network for a few hundred families living with the same rare disease. That community feeling is at our fingertips again now. Bluesky could be the alternative that restores that feeling. The question that remains is: will Bluesky succeed where other platforms, like Mastodon, have failed?

Regardless of the platform users find themselves on, the pendulum has swung. The days of shouting into a megaphone are ending. Instead, authentic engagement within small, tailored communities is the way forward. As healthcare and life science marketers, we have an opportunity to influence how new platforms like Bluesky evolve. It’s a chance to demonstrate value for clients by connecting them with a few hundred people and organizations who will have a real-world impact on their business, rather than chasing bloated audience reach. We could not be more excited about the possibilities ahead.