Netflix’s Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight was a big moment for Bluesky

It was out of morbid curiosity that I tuned in to the live boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Netflix on Saturday night. The stream ran into technical issues, and the fight itself was slow and heavy. But there was something else that kept me focused. That was all the jokes going around on Bluesky.

This kind of real-time social experience is a big part of what made X feel so vibrant back when it was still called Twitter. Whether it’s the World Cup, the presidential election, or a Nintendo Direct, having so many people posting in the same place feels alive, an experience Meta’s Threads with its algorithmic feed couldn’t recreate. But at least for a brief moment Saturday night, Bluesky certainly was.

The Paul vs. Tyson match was actually a near perfect set of events for Bluesky. The site has seen a rapid increase in registrations over the past week, including many defectors from X. I’ve had an account since last year, but only in the past week have I really started posting and building a following list. . The momentum coincided with Netflix making its biggest bet yet on live broadcasting. So when we turned our attention to the Netflix battle, we thought it would be a good time to see how capable Bluesky is when it comes to creating follow-on second screen experiences.

It did not disappoint. There was actually a good fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano before the main event. The match itself had it all: big momentum swings, dangerous headbutts, and a controversial decision in Taylor’s favor that led to some great post-fight quotes. My feed really started coming to life when Serrano’s trainer, Jordan Maldonado, said the hilarious line, “Katie is beautiful, but she has a very big head.”

Then came perhaps the biggest moment of the night, and it had nothing to do with punishment. During a pre-fight interview, Tyson calmly talked to his son, then turned around and accidentally exposed his bare back to the millions watching at home. Meme account worked instantlyAnd everyone I followed seemed to have something to say about it. I just remembered The infamous Oscar slapit just reduces the discomfort.

From there, my feed featured how tame the Paul vs. Tyson fight was (especially after the high of Taylor vs. Serrano) and the quality of the broadcast itself (which often looked pixelated as the stream dropped). This included many people complaining about I encountered some other issues, including my microphone not working. Many wondered aloud why we were all watching this.

If it wasn’t for the real-time commentary, I don’t think I would have listened. This enhances even the most mundane live experience. Sometimes unpleasant events can actually turn out to be fun. because How to chat online. And perhaps the most remarkable thing about Saturday night’s Bluesky was that it was completely unremarkable. It was like old Twitter. And that’s exactly what Bluesky needs to continue growing.

Sports attracts a lot of attention on social networks, and as Company X’s grip on the field loosens, many are struggling to replicate it elsewhere. Threads seemed like an ideal space given the size of our user base, but algorithm-driven feeds make real-time conversations difficult. In fact, when I checked into the thread the day after the game, I saw posts from 20 hours earlier, when the game was still happening. If Bluesky can address the technical challenges of its growing user base, it could become the alternative sports fans like me are looking for.