Jay Graber has stepped down as chief executive of the social media platform Bluesky, moving into a new role focused on the company’s technological development.
Graber, who became Bluesky’s first CEO in 2021 after the project spun out from Twitter, will now serve as the company’s chief innovation officer. In the new position she will concentrate on developing new features and advancing the platform’s underlying technology.
Venture capitalist and former Automattic chief executive Toni Schneider has been appointed interim CEO while Bluesky’s board searches for a permanent replacement. Schneider has been an advisor and investor in the company for the past two years.
Bluesky was originally launched as a decentralised social media project backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and became an independent company in 2021. The platform has grown rapidly in recent years, reaching more than 40 million users as it positions itself as an alternative to traditional social networks.
Graber said the leadership change would allow the company to focus on scaling the platform while she returns to building new technologies that support Bluesky’s vision of an open, decentralised social web.
The company’s board has begun a search for a permanent chief executive as Bluesky continues expanding its user base and developing its decentralised social networking protocol.
Author: Kieran Seymour