What is Bluesky? What is Bluesky?
Since the US Presidential election, Bluesky’s social network has soared. It was ranked No. 1 on Tuesday. The US App Store’s free section has Temu, Google, and TikTok as the top three apps. TechCrunch, citing Appfigures, cites 181 according to TechCrunch. 181, according to TechCrunch, which cites figures from app intelligence firm Appfigures.
According to The Guardian, the new users are mostly from North America and the UK, and the influx has helped Bluesky shoot up to 14.5 million users worldwide, up from 9 million in September. Many Bluesky users have made reference to the election, even though it’s impossible to know how many users left X because Elon Musk publicly supported President-elect Donald Trump. Wired reports that many Taylor Swift fans, a group that once had a large presence on X, are switching to Bluesky.
A representative for Bluesky did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bluesky is a social media platform that shares many similarities with X, formerly known as Twitter. X changed a lot after billionaire Musk purchased the site. He removed the blue checkmarks that indicated verified accounts. He also reinstated banned accounts. And he started a subscription program.
On October 16, X announced it would be changing its block feature, which allows users to prevent others from viewing their messages. Accounts blocked by X can see the person’s posts if they are public. However, they cannot like, reply or repost. One X user responded, “That’s blocking.” “That’s support stalking. “
On October 17, Bluesky posted a message announcing it had welcomed 500,000 visitors in a single day. Bluesky users responded to a post by the company about its growth with “First Day Here.” “Just getting started. “
X has also updated its terms of service so that any lawsuits by users against the service must be handled by a federal court in north Texas, “whose judges frequently deliver victories to conservative litigants in political cases,” The Globe and Mail reports. “
X has also updated its terms of service so that any lawsuits by users against the service must be handled by a federal court in north Texas “whose judges frequently deliver victories to conservative litigants in political cases,” The Globe and Mail reports.
These latest changes may have sparked the rise of interest in Bluesky, which saw a surge in user accounts earlier this year when X was blocked by courts in Brazil (the block was later lifted when X paid a fine). The New York Times reports that users believe Bluesky is the closest app to X. How do I sign up? Create an account by going to the main page. Download the Bluesky App for iOS or Android or use Bluesky from your desktop. It will ask you for your phone number and email address (to send a code of authentication) and then tell you to select a username. You’re now in.
What is Bluesky’s similarity to Threads and X? If you are familiar with X’s design, Bluesky should be easy to understand. The site has a vertically scrolling message with round avatars of users. Icons under the messages show how many comments, likes, and reposts have been received. It’s similar to X and Meta’s threads, the top-rated free app in the App Store.
Who is behind it? Here’s another Twitter/X link: Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey served on the board and began the Bluesky project in 2019, when he was Twitter’s CEO. Bluesky’s CEO is Jay Graber.
Even the name Bluesky is a reference to X. Dorsey confirmed that a Bluesky users speculation that the Bluesky name is related to Twitter’s bird logo, with the idea being that the bird can fly more freely under an open blue skies. Dorsey quit the board in may, reportedly because of the addition of moderation tools. Do not rhyme with “brewski.” The app is built using the AT (authenticated transport protocol), a social media framework that was created by the company. It is made up of many different websites. How is Bluesky any different?
Domains can be used as handles
For starters, you can use your domain name as your handle if you want. This could be helpful for verification. Twitter was in a hot mess after Musk started removing the blue checkmarks from verified accounts who refused to pay monthly fees. The Bluesky Social blog states that a newsroom such as NPR can set their handle to @npr.org. Then, journalists who want to be verified by NPR can use subdomains and set their handles as @name.npr.org. “Brand accounts can also set their handle as their domain.”
Moderating
Moderation also differs. A blog post states that Bluesky already uses automated moderation and is developing a community labeling system, described as “something like shared mute/block list.”
Some social media platforms show users posts that are selected by an algorithm. However, you can change this by blocking or following certain accounts. Bluesky gives you the option to choose from different algorithms that will determine what you are shown. You can either mute an account, which will prevent you from seeing top-level notifications, or block it, which goes one step further and means that you both won’t be able to see each other posts or interact. The blocking option may be of particular interest to users who were unhappy with X’s proposed change in its blocking behavior. Users who are unhappy with X’s proposed change to its blocking policy may find the blocking option of particular interest. Custom feeds
Algorithms determine the way content is filtered, and how it’s recommended to users. Bluesky offers custom feeds that let you choose which algorithm determines the content you see. You can choose your feed from a marketplace if you wish. For example, you may want to limit your timeline to posts by mutuals or posts with cat photos or posts about sports. In a longer post, we go into greater detail about algorithmic selection and custom feeds. To add and discover feeds, click the hashtag icon at the bottom of the application. The site offers a feed generator starter kit for developers to create custom feeds. It promises that in the future, everyone will be able to build their own feeds. Reviews
The Onion CEO Ben Collins, who was a reporter for NBC in April 2023 when he tweeted that Bluesky worked and looked and felt just like Twitter, praised its “moderation, desktop-experience and reliability.”
As at Nov. 12, Bluesky has a rating of 3.9 stars out of 5. One reviewer wrote, “Feels more organic than early Twitter days.”
Who uses it? Here’s a list of people and groups that you will see posting to Bluesky. Some post more often than others.
