This is my collection of hints and resources to use Bluesky effectively.
Links should open in a new tab unless otherwise noted.
Bluesky is currently less algorithmic than many other platforms, meaning you won't get much free visibility when starting out.
Here are a few ways around that:
Bluesky has good, global search and indexes alt text.
By adding accurate descriptions to your images, you can appear in search results much more easily.
Some also use the alt text for additional explanations, as it can be read by everyone, but it's a bit inconvenient to display in full.
(Think of it like tags on an art site, but first make sure to describe the image for blind users!)
This is important if you're an artist. When posting sensitive media and link previews:
If your post contains adult content, select the category that fits your post best among 'Suggestive', 'Nudity' and 'Adult'.
(Selecting a label reveals an explanation. You can deselect by clicking the selected label again.)
Selecting an adult content label doesn't limit the post's visibility aside from not appearing to minors, people who haven't opted into adult content and specific 'clean' feeds. It also adds your post to certain after-dark feeds.
If you don't self-label your art, it could get labelled as "Sexually Suggestive (Cartoon)", which does have lower visibility because the opt-in isn't nearly as visible as for the other categories.
FurryList is a collection of Bluesky feeds that aggregate posts by furries and automatically sort them by topic. You can read more on their website: furryli.st
Joining the lists requires manual approval. Once you're followed back, you're in.
Make sure to label adult content when posting! This is required for accurate sorting into the feeds and not doing so could get you excluded. Be sure to read the Community Guidelines!
Certain feeds require hashtags for your posts to appear, so include them in the post text or alt text where applicable. As of 2024-08-13 these are:
You can see pronouns, flags and other neutral or positive labels by subscribing to the following labelers:
Pronouns | |
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@pronouns.adorable.mom | |
A self-service labeler to display your pronouns, 'none', 'look at bio', 'avoid pronouns', 'ask pronouns' and/or 'any/all'. |
kickflip | |
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@labeler.renahlee.com | |
A self-service labeler to display your flag(s). (Has Pride, country and a few other flags.) |
Khronos, Time Zone Labels ๐ | |
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@khronos.world | |
A self-service labeler to display your time zone and when you're active. |
๐ฟ The Yard Crow | |
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@yardcrow.com | |
A friendly non-automatic labeler that says only good things about people. Anyone can suggest profile badges, but the admin asks for consent before applying the spicier ones. You can also get your tabletop-alignment and -class as well as your zodiac sign(s) here. You can also ask for a memorial badge for someone here. |
Games Industry Labeller | |
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@ozone.birb.house | |
A mix of unverified and verified badges that show involvement in game creation and reporting. |
SonaSky | |
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@sonasky.bsky.social | |
A self-service labeler for fursona species. May be helpful if people mistake you often. |
FurSky Creators | |
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@furskycreators.bsky.social | |
A self-service labeler for furry creators. |
Labelers can choose the default behaviour of their labels. These all default to 'Show badge'.
You can add hashtags to your bio. When someone clicks on them (also in posts), they get the option to see your posts with that tag specifically:
This is a bit easier to find than a custom feed.
(via)
Note that on mobile, you have to long-press the tag, as short-tapping leads to a global search. If you have a GitHub account leave a thumbs-up here to get that changed for bio hashtags or, ideally, submit it as a pull-request directly if you can.
Custom feeds are usually a bit harder to find than profile tags, but they offer more flexibility. They can also be pinned next to "Following" by anyone.
Anyone can publish a custom feed, but it must be hosted somewhere. (Bluesky doesn't offer this as part of their infrastructure, so you have to either self-host or use a third-party service.)
Remember to only use app passwords or (better) OAuth to log into third-party apps, not your actual Bluesky password!
I use SkyFeed for my custom feeds, which is flexible and works well most of the time.
Some alternative clients like deck.blue let you write posts in Markdown or similar. (Remember to use an app password, not your actual one!)
This means you can attach a link to any text in your post, and the normal Bluesky app and website will display it nicely!
Tutorial: https://bsky.app/profile/sky-tan.kawaii.social/post/3l6sx6llwbu2n
XBlock Screenshot Labeller | |
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@xblock.aendra.dev | |
Do you dislike screenshot posts? This can collapse or hide them per network. Much nicer. |
AI Imagery Labeler | |
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@aimod.social | |
Collapses or hides gen-AI images. You can also choose to hide entire accounts of AI image posters. |
Profile Labeller | |
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@profile-labels.bossett.social | |
Adds useful meta data badges or warnings to accounts. For example, you can see if an account was recently renamed. You can also see when someone posts from another network (Hi!). |
Crypto Labeler | |
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@cryptolabeler.w3igg.com | |
May be able to hide some cryptocurrency spam. I don't see much anyway, but the author is reputable. |
Laelaps | |
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@laelaps.fyi | |
An anti-zoophilia labeler. As in animal abuse, not art. Does not label for feral NSFW or therians. |
No GIFS Please | |
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@nogifsplease.bsky.social | |
"[Tenor] GIF hiding labeler. Nothing else." |
Mutuals | |
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Top-level posts by your mutuals, chronologically. |
Quiet Posters | |
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Posts from your quieter follows, otherwise easily-missed. |
OnlyPosts | |
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All top-level posts by your follows, without replies or reposts. |
The 'Gram | |
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All picture posts by your follows, including replies. |
After Dark | |
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Like The 'Gram, but filtered down to only NSFW-labelled posts and those with #nsfw. |
Mentions | |
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All posts that directly mention, quote or reply to you. |
Discover (by @bsky.app) | |
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"Trending content from your personal network", i.e. the classic algorithmic feed. You can adjust this by selecting "Show more like this" or "Show less like this" in the three-dots menu on posts there! |
Discover (by @skyfeed.xyz) | |
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Another algorithmic feed, "based on your likes." |
Popular With Friends | |
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Another algorithmic feed, based on likes I think. Shows me more art and fewer political memes. |
Best of Follows | |
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Recently popular content, but only by people you're already following. (No reposts.) |
Only Replies | |
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Replies by people you follow, without the filter that's applied to "Following". |
These aren't individualised, as far as I know.
SciArt ๐ก | |
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A curated feed for science- and scientific-art posts. |
Queer Art | |
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Art by queer artists. |
๐พ Games | |
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Hashtag feed for furry Visual Novels and games. One of the FurryList feeds. |
Gift Link News | |
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News from major publications without paywall, by finding gift links posted to Bluesky. |
๐พ Eurofurence 2024 | |
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Hashtag feed for Eurofurence. One of the FurryList feeds. |
Bluesky Team | |
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Bluesky announcements. |
Consider liking a useful feed to let its maintainer know and move it up in the feed search results!
Note that feed likes are public to anyone through ATProto, while subscriptions are private and feed owners are not notified of them.
(External links!)
Using Bluesky Labelers To Show Campaign Funding Data | |
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@us-gov-funding.bsky.social | |
Labels US politicians with their main campaign funding sources, to show that information as badge on posts and profile. |
Blacksky Algorithms | |
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@blacksky.app | |
Opt-in feed and moderation tools for Black users. |
Bluesky is somewhat decentralised, which allows for the creation of bridges that connect to other networks (protocols).
Unlike mirrors, bridges are bidirectional. Once you opt in, you can like and reply to posts from other networks, and users there can see your activity (even if they aren't opted in yet).
Bridgy Fed is the most notable Bridge on Bluesky and connects ActivityPub*, Bluesky and IndieWeb** websites.
Requirements: Your account must be older than two weeks, have a profile picture and not be hidden from logged-out users.
If you meet the requirements, follow @ap.brid.gy on BlueSky to enable ActivityPub bridging.
The account should follow you back shortly and send a 'Chat' message with your fediverse handle to confirm. If not, make sure you're not blocking the account, wait a bit, then try again.
(It's rare, but this step can fail during huge ATProto traffic spikes. In such a case, try again the next day.)
You can disable the bridge at any time by blocking @ap.brid.gy. This will also try to delete your virtual account and content from the ActivityPub fediverse. This is a destructive action that removes your ActivityPub followers.
Make sure to label adult content when posting! Bridgy Fed translates Bluesky labels into appropriate fediverse warnings, but currently only self-applied ones. Bridging adult content without label may cause fediverse admins to hide your posts or account on their instance and makes it harder for fediverse users to boost your content.
Not all instances federate with Bridgy Fed (some blocked it during the initial backlash when it was planned to be opt-out), but generally speaking this bridge is in good standing over there and can connect to most places.
You can find more information in Bridgy Fed's documentation.
* That means Mastodon, Misskey, Pixelfed, Wordpress, Akkoma, Friendica, Flipboard, soon Ghostlyโฆ many social sites and services use ActivityPub.
You'll receive interactions only from users who've bridged to Bluesky in turn, so while some ActivityPub users have strong opinions about Bluesky, you'll see only folks who are at least mostly okay with the platform.
** Web bridging is always on to an extent, I think, but only for direct interactions with accounts from the IndieWeb.
Bluesky itself does not show this information on your profile, but it can be retrieved by anyone through ATProto, Bluesky's federation protocol.
Mutes are private. Mutelists are public.
Mutelist subscriptions are private.
If you have a .bsky.social
handle, you can write your profile link like this: https://qazm.bsky.social/
The site redirects to your usual profile page.
The following ratios are not cropped (depending on the image count):
Visual guide: https://bsky.app/profile/whey.party/post/3l6rpxqou5g2x
Images larger than 2000px on the longer side are downscaled on Bluesky, but the original size may still be retrieved through the API sometimes.
Like this page? Leave a like on Bluesky!
You can also find me here:
on Bluesky | Main (bridged) |
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@Qazm.tiggi.es.ap.brid.gy | |
Bluesky | |
@qazm.bsky.social | |
via ActivityPub (Mastodon) |
Main |
@Qazm@tiggi.es | |
Bluesky (bridged) | |
@qazm.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy |
This page is up to date with Bluesky 1.93.0.
This site is:
It's a cool way to put stuff online.
If you find this page useful and would tip, please instead support the next fundraiser by someone who is struggling that you see. Any amount counts.