Blueskythe Twitter-like social media platform that emerged as an alternative for X users who had become frustrated when Elon Musk bought that platform, is getting a second wind.
When Musk bought X — which was then called Twitter — in October 2022, competitors like Mastodon and Hive Social received a flood of new users. Other competitors entered the scene later, like Threads and Blueskyand were greeted with an increase in registration requests.
Since the 2024 presidential elections, Bluesky has added millions of new usersaccording to its executive director.
Whether you’ve moved on from X or just want to understand how one of the most downloaded free apps works, here’s what you need to know about Bluesky.
Bluesky is a social network that works similarly to X. Users can post text, videos and photos, reply to each other, and share other users’ posts. The first version of Bluesky required users to be invited to the platform, but now anyone with an email address can create an account.
Just like in X, Bluesky users can write a post by clicking on a big blue button that says “New Post” with a paper and pencil icon next to it. Posts are shorter, limited to 300 characters, and may include video and photos.
Bluesky messages are called postsalthough there is a tendency—controversial for some—to call Bluesky’s publications as “skeets” (a play on words between sky and tweet).
At the top of the page, users can toggle between posts from people they follow and the option called “Discover”.
Discover is an algorithm-based page that works like TikTok or X’s For You pages, showing you popular posts from users you may not follow based on your previous activity on the platform.
You can customize your suggestions using lists, and “Starter Packs,” said Emily Liucommunications director at Bluesky.
Lists are intended to group accounts based on a user’s interests. To create a list, click the list symbol on the left. Give it a name—for example, “Portland Sports”—and start searching for relevant people and organizations (columnist John Canzanofor example, or the Portland Trailblazers) to add to it.
Los feedsor news feeds, allow you to tailor the type of posts you see to a topic or keyword. Do you want to see more about pizza? You can find a litany of pizza-related posts filled with photos, pizza memes, and the occasional movie review Licorice Pizza. Like lists, news sources are located in the left dashboard.
“You can consider the feeds like labels or super powerful lists”Liu said.
Starter packs are similar to lists, but are intended for people to share groups with their followers. Users often have their own packages tailored to their interests, which their followers can enjoy. When your followers join the pack, they will all see the same posts.
Bluesky’s layout will look familiar to an X user. After all, Jack Dorseythe former CEO of Twitter, helped develop Bluesky.
The control panels on the left side of the platforms are almost identical, both in function and appearance. The movement mechanics are similar. Both apps use light blue and white color schemes.
Bluesky users can block, mute and report accounts. But because Bluesky calls itself “an open and public network,” users cannot make their posts private to other Bluesky users without blocking them individually.
Bluesky does not use the same checkmark system as Meta or X. Meta and X give users a checkmark if they have reached a certain status or paid for a subscription. On Bluesky, users check their status through links to their own websites.
There’s no easy way to find your Instagram or Facebook friends on Bluesky, Liu said. But some independent developers have created solutions, including a browser extension called Sky Follower Bridge.
Freddy Nageran associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said sports news remains a big draw for X users. Many of the accounts that post sports news — Adam Schefter and Shams Charania of ESPN and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, for example—are not yet on Bluesky. Bot accounts imitate your X posts on Bluesky.
An alert button on X profiles allows users to stay up to date with the latest news. The dedicated drafts button allows an X user to save a post to publish later. For now, alerts and drafts are not in Bluesky.
X has also recently installed a “views” counter which Bluesky does not have.
In May, The Verge reported that Dorsey had left Bluesky. He posted a message on his X account that seemed to recommend people stay on that network.
“Don’t depend on corporations to grant you rights,” he wrote in X a day before Bluesky confirmed his departure from the council. “Defend them yourself using the technology of freedom (you are in one).”
There are also glitches, such as bright, flickering images that sometimes appear when a user scrolls through the “Like” section. The official Bluesky account said it had fixed some performance issues on Wednesday night, but that an issue remained on the site’s Discover page.
© The New York Times 2024.
