Bluesky is a social network focused on providing an open, decentralized platform for users to connect and share content. It emphasizes user control and freedom on a federated system.
Features
Open Social Network
Acts as a platform where users always control their own content and identity. Ensures that governance is separate from platforms, enabling a decentralized social network experience.
Decentralized Prototype
Built using protocols like XRPC and Lexicon, it allows users to have flexibility and control, moving away from centralized social networking paradigms.
Customizable Algorithms
Users can choose their preferred algorithms to curate their timeline, providing a personalized social media experience.
Content Filtering
Allows users to filter content based on their preferences, controlling what appears in their feed.
Open Social Network
Built as an open framework, giving users control over their data and interactions, while enabling developers to innovate with ease.
AT Protocol
An open-source framework for building social apps that provides transparency on how the software is built. It creates a standard format for user identity and allows apps to interoperate, facilitating a federated network with account portability.
Global Conversation
Enables participation in a global conversation by breaking news and viral posts, without server-specific content segregation. Users can choose their own domain names as usernames.
Composable Moderation
Supports a flexible and user-alterable system for moderation, allowing users to set their moderation preferences.
Account Portability
Provides the ability to switch servers without losing access to one's identity and data, maintaining usernames and content.
Custom Handles
Allows you to set up a unique handle like 'name.bsky.social' instead of using the default handle. You can claim a custom handle by registering a DNS domain and associating it with your Bluesky account.
Locking Handle
You can lock your handle to prevent losing it. This involves setting a recovery password and deciding to use a backup email.
Privacy Settings
Allows you to block people and adjust profile visibility settings, providing privacy control over who can see your data.
Mobile App
Access Bluesky on mobile devices through their app, allowing you to interact and engage on the go.
Composable Moderation
An approach to moderation that is customizable and part of an ecosystem of third-party services. It allows users to create or subscribe to moderation labels defined by third parties.
Moderation Labeling System
Allows anyone to apply labels to content or accounts, separate from the core service. Labels can be generated by third parties, custom algorithms, or manual entries. Users can choose how these labels affect their experience.
Community Labeling
Enables community-driven label sets, allowing both automated systems and humans to manage moderation labels. Users can create label sets and have them applied to their experience.
Self-Verification for Journalists
Journalists and news organizations can verify themselves by setting their website as their username on Bluesky.
Embedding Posts
You can embed a Bluesky post by using a dropdown menu or visiting embed.bsky.app for code snippets.
Custom Feeds
Allows users to customize their feed by selecting algorithms for a personalized experience, with the possibility to subscribe to feeds created by others.
Third-Party Tools
Bluesky supports third-party tools for enhanced functionality, which can be developed due to its open social network nature.
Media Kit Access
Media professionals can access a Bluesky media kit for promotional and informational purposes.
Developing APIs for feed generation
These APIs will be separate from the main system, allowing custom feed and moderation services to be created independently.
Designing interfaces for third-party algorithm selection
A feed selection system is being developed to let users explore and access third-party feeds as easily as using their home timeline.
Decentralized Web Ecosystem
Focuses on understanding and building upon the core tenets of the decentralized web, aiming to improve social media technologies.
Open Protocol for Social Media
Developing new standards for social media protocols to ensure openness and decentralization.
Community-Driven Innovation
Encourages developers to innovate independently by providing them with control over the services they use.
Self-Certifying Protocols
Combines the efficiency of self-certifying protocols with the user-friendliness of delegated hosting to benefit developers and users.
Federated and P2P Architectures
Utilizes federated and peer-to-peer architectures to build upon existing protocols for decentralized networks.
Altmetric Mentions Tracking
Altmetric is now tracking mentions of research on Bluesky, making it easy to track conversations around your research.
Bluesky's Open Developer API
Allows users to find all mentions of their research on the Bluesky network, emphasizing its open social network design.
AT Protocol
Allows developers to create diverse applications, enabling a decentralized social ecosystem without relying on cryptocurrencies.
Decentralized Ecosystem
Focuses on creating an open social app network, offering freedom and user choice, and supporting self-hosting.
Novel Features
Recently shipped features include direct messaging, GIFs, video uploads, and avatar frames.
Trust and Safety Investment
We continually invest in transparent tooling and trust and safety measures to support a secure environment for users.
Ban evasion and multi-account detection
Working on reducing the impact of harassers by detecting patterns of new account creation and using additional verification methods for suspicious accounts.
Toxicity detection experiments
Detecting toxic replies, reducing visibility of toxic interactions, and using account-level labels and suspensions to combat harassment and dog-piling.
Spam and fake account removals
Automating detection of fake accounts and impersonators to reduce harm before they impact users.
Feedback on moderation reports
Transitioning communication on violations to within the app to streamline and improve responsiveness.
Geography-specific labels
Introducing labels on content to comply with legal requirements of different countries and restricting access as needed.
Designing video features
Experimenting with video features such as auto-play and labeling to improve user safety.
List changes to restrict abuse
Updating how blocked users affect lists and preventing abuse of list descriptions and names.
User concerns prioritization
Assessing and addressing high-harm issues in user feedback to prevent abusive behaviors effectively.
Video Sharing
Each post can contain one video up to 60 seconds long. Supports formats like .mp4, .mpeg, .webm, and .mov. Videos autoplay by default but can be turned off.
Video Upload Limits
Users can upload 25 videos or 10 GB of video per day.
Subtitles and Labels
Users can add subtitles to videos and labels for content like adult content.
Content Moderation and Safety
Requires email verification for video uploads. Users can report content to the moderation team. Content violating guidelines may lead to revoked upload access. Videos are checked for illegal material like CSAM.
Video Deletion
Deleting a post with a video also deletes the video entirely from the infrastructure.
Feed Customization
Users can customize their feeds using a chronological feed or the algorithm-powered Discover feed. Tools like Blocked and Catch Up let users view posts from friends who don't post often or see recent content only from their social circle.
Custom Domains for Users
Users can claim a custom domain as their username. For example, an organization can use their domain name for their profile verification, allowing them to establish an official presence.
Content Moderation
Bluesky has a 24/7 moderation team that responds quickly to reported content. Users can flag posts or accounts as inappropriate. The platform follows specific moderation rules but allows users to set their moderation preferences.
Open Source Development
Developers can create and integrate applications to enhance user experiences. This open development model allows third-party innovations on the platform.
Custom Feeds
Users can create and subscribe to personalized feeds, enabling more control over the content they see. This encourages healthier discussions by avoiding a single algorithm.
Usernames as Websites
Allows users to set their username as a domain (e.g. username.bsky.social), acting as a verification method.
Open Network
Built on the AT Protocol, enabling developers to build apps, moderation services, and networks on top of the Bluesky infrastructure. This fosters collaboration.