What is Bluesky? Everything you need to know about the social media site

The social network Bluesky has grown enormously since the American presidential elections. On Tuesday, it was number 3 in the free app section of the US App Store, above popular apps such as Temu, Google and TikTok. At the beginning of October, the site was far at the bottom of the list, at number 181, according to TechCrunch, citing figures from an app intelligence agency App figures.

According to The Guardiannew users mainly come from North America and Great Britain, and the influx has helped Blue sky shooting to 14.5 million users worldwide, up from 9 million in September. While there is no way to determine how many new users left because of X owner Elon Musk’s public support for newly elected President Donald Trump, many Bluesky users reference the election in their first posts. 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 has many similarities with X, formerly known as Twitter. X underwent a number of changes after billionaire Musk had purchased the site and had deleted old blue check marks with verified accounts, had previously restored forbidden accounts and a new subscription program had started.

On October 16 X announced that it was changing the blocking feature, which would allow people to prevent others from seeing their posts on the site. Accounts that have been blocked can now see that person’s posts on ‘That doesn’t block’ one X user replied. “That is supporting stalking.”

On October 17 Bluesky shared a post announced that it had welcomed 500,000 people in just one day. “First day here,” one Bluesky user wrote in response to the company’s post about the growth. “I’m just getting wet. I was a Twitter user for a long time, but it’s a shell of what it used to be.”

x This is reported by Globe and Mail.

These latest changes may have fueled interest in Bluesky, which is a increase in the number of user accounts earlier this year when X was blocked by courts in Brazil (the blocking was later lifted when X paid a fine). According to The New York Timesusers say Bluesky is the app that comes closest to X.

Here’s what you need to know about Bluesky.

How do I register?

Originally Bluesky was available by invitation only, but since February it has been open to everyone. To enter, simply go to the main page create an account. You can download the Bluesky app for iOS or Androidor use Bluesky on your desktop.

You will be asked for your email address and phone number (to send an authentication code), and you will be asked to choose a username and password. Then you’re in.

How is Bluesky similar to X and Threads?

If you’re used to X, Bluesky’s design and purpose should make sense to you.

The site uses vertically scrolling posts with small round photo avatars for users and icons under posts showing how many comments, likes and reposts they have received. It’s quite similar in size to X and Meta’s Threads, the current best free app in the App Store.

Who is behind it?

Here’s another Twitter/X connection: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey previously served on the board of directors and the Bluesky project began in 2019 when he was CEO of Twitter. Jay Graber is the CEO of Bluesky.

Even Bluesky’s name is related to X’s former name. Dorsey confirmed a Bluesky user’s speculation that the name ties in with Twitter’s bird mascot, with the idea that the bird could fly even more freely in an open blue sky. Dorsey left the board in Mayapparently because the service added moderation tools.

Although the site’s name doesn’t have a capital S in “sky,” it is pronounced “blue sky.” Don’t rhyme it with ‘brewski’.

The app is built on something called the verified transport protocolor AT, a company-created social media framework that consists of a network of many different sites.

And how is Bluesky different?

Domains as handles

To get started, if you wish, you can set your domain as your username. This could help with verification, which became a heated issue for Twitter when Musk started removing blue check marks from verified accounts that refused to pay a monthly fee.

“For example, a newsroom like NPR could set up @npr.org,” says the Bluesky Social company blog notes. “Next, any journalists NPR wants to verify can use subdomains to set their username to @name.npr.org. Brand accounts can also set their username to their domain.”

Moderation

Moderation is also different. Another blog post says Bluesky is already using automated moderation and working on a system of community labeling, which it describes as “something akin to shared mute/block lists.”

Users of many social media platforms are shown posts from a feed selected for them by an algorithm, although you can influence this by following or blocking certain accounts. But Bluesky wants to give you the chance to choose from one variety of different algorithms to control what you see.

You can mute accounts, which prevents you from seeing notifications or top-level messages, or you can block accounts, which goes a step further, meaning you and the other account can’t see or interact with each other’s messages. And you can report messages or accounts for abuse. The blocking option may be of particular interest to users who were unhappy with X’s proposed change in his blocking behavior.

Some features – the ability to hide replies to your posts and unlink your posts from other users’ posts that quote yours – are designed to hold back piles and other toxins behavior.

Maintain connections

It’s possible that creators who gain followers on Bluesky will one day be able to do so too maintain connections with those who follow them, even as the service itself changes.

Custom feeds

Algorithms are the rules that determine how content is filtered and recommended to users. Bluesky has something called custom feeds, which lets you choose the algorithm that determines what you see.

“Imagine you want your timeline to contain only posts from your mutual partners, or only posts with cat pictures, or only posts related to sports. You can simply choose the feed of your choice from an open marketplace,” one blog post on the site say. A longer post will go into this in more detail custom feeds and algorithmic choice. Click the hashtag icon at the bottom of the app to add and discover new feeds.

Developers can use those from the site starter pack for power generator to create a custom feed, and the site promises that the tools will eventually be so simple that the rest of us can create custom feeds.

Reviews

The CEO of The Onion Ben Collins tweeted in April 2023, while a technology reporter for NBC, said Bluesky “works and looks and feels just like (Twitter)” and praised the site’s “moderation, desktop experience and reliability.”

As of November 12, the site has a 3.9 out of 5 star rating in the Apple App Store. “It feels like the early Twitter days, but more organic,” one reviewer wrote.

Who uses it?

Here’s a small list of some of the people and groups you’ll see posting on Bluesky, although some post more than others.