synnbiob
Related Articles
Bluesky is finally having its big moment. After the US elections, the alternative social-media network has exploded in popularity, gaining about 1 million new users per day since Thursday, Nov. 14.
Bluesky functions much like the two other big X (formerly known as Twitter) alternatives — Threads and Mastodon — but it has some unique, exclusive features such as starter packs, domain-based user names, custom algorithmic feeds and community-driven moderation lists that let you block or mute accounts en masse. The service launched in the fall of 2021 but interest has climbed this month as those looking for an alternative to X — owned by Elon Musk — seek a new place to go.
We’ll show you everything you need to get started with Bluesky, including how to post, find people to follow and adjust your moderation settings. For more, learn how to delete your X account and how to find all of your Twitter favorites on Bluesky.
How do I sign up for Bluesky?
Anyone over the age of 13 can join Bluesky now (as long as it’s legal in your country). Bluesky launched as an invite-only beta service in February 2023 and then eliminated the invite codes in February 2024.
Registering with Bluesky only takes a few minutes.
To sign up, visit the website bsky.app from a browser or install the app on your phone or tablet from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
To create an account, hit the “Sign up” button on the website or the “Create account” button in the app. First you’ll need to select your “hosting provider” (Bluesky Social is the only option currently) and provide your email address, password and birthdate.
Next you’ll need to pick your “handle,” or Bluesky account name, which must be at least three characters and use only letters, numbers and hyphens. If you have your own website, you can use your domain as your handle, just like actor Ben Stiller, NPR or the comedy website The Onion. (Unfortunately, Bluesky won’t tell you that your chosen handle is already taken until you hit the “Next” button.)
Once you’ve got your account name set, you’ll need to complete a captcha exercise to prove you’re human, and then you’ll be given the option of uploading a profile photo or creating a primitive avatar from one of 20 emojis plus one of six colors as background.
In the next screen, you can select topics of interest from a set of 22 subjects including Art, Movies, Sports or Tech, which will help inform your “Discover” feed. (Read more about Bluesky feeds below.)
When you register for Bluesky, you can identify interests that will inform your Discover feed.
The whole registration process only takes a few minutes. After that, you’re totally free to explore the skies of blue any which way you like. But how do you start? Let’s find some accounts to follow.
How do I find good accounts to follow on Bluesky?
When you start using Bluesky, your main “Following” feed will consist only of the official Bluesky account, and your “Discover” feed (similar to the “For You” feed on X) will consist of posts related to any interests you selected during the setup process.
Here’s what your Bluesky Following feed will look like to start.
There are countless methods for finding good accounts to follow on Bluesky. You can scroll through your Discover feed to see if any of the accounts are posting content that you enjoy, then follow them directly. Scan the top 500 most popular Bluesky accounts to see if any fit your bill. Search directly for specific people like friends or celebrities on the service.
Once you’ve found a few accounts that you want to follow, see if any of them provide Bluesky starter packs. These starter packs are a unique feature to Bluesky that can include recommended accounts and custom feeds to follow. You can follow those accounts one by one, or, if the whole group looks good to you, click the “Follow all” button to add them all to your “Following” feed.
If a favorite account of yours doesn’t provide a starter pack, you can also just take a look at the accounts that they are following and follow the ones you like from that list.
If you’re looking to recreate your list of follows from X (Twitter), third-party apps can help find them for you.
What are custom Bluesky feeds?
Custom feeds are one of the coolest features of Bluesky, and there are currently more than 50,000 of them live on the service. Consider custom feeds like social media algorithms of your own choosing or design — instead of X’s black-box algorithm, you’ll know exactly why you’re seeing the posts you’re seeing.
Bluesky lets you choose from thousands of custom algorithmic feeds.
You can subscribe to the Popular With Friends feed, which will show you favorite content from the accounts you follow. Other feeds are more functionally simple — My Bangers will display your most popular posts sorted by number of likes. You can follow affinity group feeds as well, such as Blacksky, BookSky or Women in STEM.
If you’re a software developer (or are willing to learn a bit of programming), you can create your own custom feeds that you can share with anyone on Bluesky.
How does moderation work on Bluesky?
On Bluesky, you can block and mute accounts just like on X, but the full moderation features are more robust than that. The most obvious difference between the two sites now is the blocking feature, which on Bluesky is often called the “nuclear block.”
On X, blocking an account no longer prevents it from seeing your posts, and if the account added you to a list for harassment purposes, you’ll remain on it. On Bluesky, blocking an account not only prevents it from viewing your profile or posts but also removes any and all interactions that account had with you and automatically removes you from any of its lists. You won’t be searchable at all to the blocked account.
The mute features on Bluesky also add a bit more. You can mute accounts and specific words, just like on X, but you can also mute entire hashtags.
Bluesky users can report any post or any account for violating the site’s terms of service or community guidelines. Bluesky claims that every report will be reviewed by the site’s Trust and Safety team.
Bluesky includes a robust system for reporting spam and offensive or misleading posts.
One unique feature to Bluesky is curated moderation lists that can be shared with other accounts. Bluesky users can review such lists to decide which accounts to block one by one, or they can mute or block entire lists of accounts with a single click.
Bluesky’s moderation settings are set to exclude adult content by default, which can be changed by sliding the setting from Disabled to Enabled. Furthermore, you can also decide whether you want Bluesky to Show, Warn or Hide specific types of media: explicit sexual content, sexually suggestive content, disturbing graphic content and nonsexual nudity.
You can mute and block specific terms or accounts on Bluesky, and also decide if and how you’ll see adult content.
Start posting on Bluesky yourself
Once you’ve taken some time to get accustomed to Bluesky, it’s time to start posting. Whether it’s pictures of your cats, deep thoughts about your hobbies or incisive cultural commentary, I’m sure you have something wonderful to share.
To start a new post on Bluesky in a web browser, click the blue “New Post” button in the persistent left-hand navigation. In the mobile apps, tap the blue circle with a pencil on paper icon in the lower-right corner of your home, notifications or profile page.
Once the new post window pops up, you’ll need to decide your interaction settings. By default, Bluesky posts are set to “Anybody can interact” but you can restrict replies to followed users or mentioned users, or allow no one to reply at all. You can also decide whether or not you want other accounts to “quote post” you, or repost your content with added commentary. You can also remove quoted posts retroactively.
Bluesky gives you 300 characters per post.
Your options for livening up your Bluesky posts are a little limited right now. You’ve got a 300-character limit for each post. You can add up to four photos in each post, or one video up to 50MB (if you have verified your email address). Once you add a photo or video to a Bluesky spot, you’ll have the option of adding a label for adult or sensitive materials.
Bluesky does support animated GIFs, but only through an integrated instance of the service Giphy. If you want to post your own homemade GIFs, you’re out of luck.
Once you’ve composed your gem and are ready to share it with the rest of the Bluesky community (or to whomever your privacy settings allow), just click the blue “Post” button in the top-right corner of the web or mobile app, and voila! — you’re publishing on the hottest new social network!
If you decide to join Bluesky or if you’re on there already, be sure to come by and say hi. I’ve only just started using it (Mastodon is my main social-media presence), but I’m on Bluesky at @peter-butler.bsky.social, and I would love to hear from you.
