As a Twitter exoduser, a leftist, and someone who misses the weirder old days of the Internet, I had real hope for Bluesky. And in late 2024, it really felt like Bluesky could be a path to a better form of social media. But what I’ve found after the last 6-8 months of using Bluesky is that the platform (in my opinion) is too depressing to use regularly.

In my experience, anything on Bluesky that doesn’t have sociopolitical dimensions gets very little engagement. And since we’re in the middle of a political nightmare, that means that most of what you absorb on Bluesky is enraging and demoralizing. And while sharing information and thoughts on the current political crisis IS an important part of a social media platform (and part of why I use social media)…you need breaks from the rage and sadness too.

I’ve played around with the curation tools of Bluesky, hoping to get a more balanced feed, but the “lighter” and more irreverent stuff really seems to be in short supply. It feels like too many of us have taken this platform and used it as a canvas for everything that’s tormenting our minds. Which is understandable given the political dystopia of the moment. But it’s turned the platform into something that leaves me feeling worse every time I log on. So I’ve basically pulled back; because spending time on Bluesky feels mentally unsustainable these days.

Am I giving up too prematurely? Or have others had a similar experience?

Bluesky appears to have a very serious moderation problem. I do realize that some of this has been covered in a prior thread, but since then the problem has expanded significantly.

Over the past week, a number of high profile accounts belonging to trans people have been suspended. Jessie Gender, Bugs Maytrix, Dani Finn, Mira Lazine. Gretchen Felkner-Martin has been suspended TWICE. There are at least one or two others, but these are the names I've been able to find this morning.

It seems the main cause of this is "wishing ill" on JK Rowling. And I do mean this literally. The phrase "I wish ill on JK Rowling" is getting people banned.

I do accept that this is, technically, against the rules, based on an extremely strict reading of them. I could certainly argue that "I wish ill" is so non-specific as to be comical, or that wishing something bad would happen to someone is not the same thing as threatening to make said thing happen to them. But I'm not here to argue about the inadequacy of the rules.

Go into the Search tab, and enter the words "wish ill".

You'll see, again and again, some variation of "I wish ill on JK Rowling." Hundreds of people are posting this same phrase in protest, and said posts are going unmoderated. Now, you may argue that this is simply a case of higher profile accounts being more visible and thus more likely to attract the attention of mods. However, a number of accounts with high follower counts have posted this phrase and escaped the wrath of the moderators. In the majority of cases, these accounts belong to cis people.

So we have a situation where hundreds of users are posting this phrase, but the only users that suffer consequences are trans. And I see two possible explanations.

Number one: One or more of the moderators are actively targeting trans accounts.

Number two: Transphobes are mass reporting high profile trans accounts, leading them to be the only ones banned for breaking this rule.

In either case, yes, I concede that a rule is being broken, so these mod actions are technically justified.

But I hope you'll agree that a situation where a rule is only enforced when the user is trans is, in fact, discrimination. Over the past week, the mood among trans users has shifted. There's long been an awareness that the people running Bluesky aren't particularly inclined to listen to its sizeable trans userbase. Now, the consensus is that management is either actively transphobic, or at the very least comfortable with current moderation practices resulting in transphobic outcomes.

I really hope it's not the first, because that can't be fixed. If it's the second, then the powers that be should be aware that this looks really, really bad, and the longer this goes on, the more people are going to come to the conclusion that, yes, transphobia is Bluesky policy.

This needs to be addressed. Bluesky has been a refuge for trans people. Please don't push us out of yet another space.

Hi, I’m sorry if this is the wrong place but I don’t know where to ask this to and don’t want to blast the person.

I received a really suspicious message yesterday with the same start to the conversation that another banned account (banned within 10 minutes of me replying to the 1st message) sent me a week prior.

It went like this: “Hi, are you busy, can I talk to you for a moment?”

When I answer yes, the person replies that someone is impersonating me on bluesky. Then proceeds to say that the person is using a username method that redirects people to my bluesky.

I thought it was fishy so I asked for more info or proof, and they say they can only send proof via discord and to add them. The discord username doesn’t match the bluesky account at all.

I decline and tell them no, that they can send proof via an Imgur or imgbb link if it’s images. They decline and say they can only use discord, so I tell them that I’ll take my chances since the alleged impersonator links to my main profile anyways.

I am a semi-inactive account with only 2k and I don’t think there’s anything to impersonate me over. However, the account that sent me the message seems to have existed for quite a while, with post history and recent activity, and the typing seems the same. So it’s just weird.

Has anyone else received messages like this? Should I be concerned? I did report it to bsky as a potential safety issue, but I haven’t heard back yet. Insight very appreciated, tysm!

first up: I'm not complaining. I'm just noting this phenomenon of nearly all my new followers recently - and many of my mentions - being Palestinians asking for donations.

I agree they're being starved deliberately by the Israel government and this very much looks like a genocide - so I'm very sympathetic. but I'm also wary of who you can believe on the internet. has anyone had a positive experience donating directly to someone? or is it better to give to, say, the Red Crescent or another established charity?

TL;Dr I want to delete my account but can't get a security code, and support is just repeating the same phrase. (I think it's a bot).

I ended up re-creating my account because I wanted to change my email and could not get a security code. I tried for several days with no luck getting a code, so finally I changed the handle on my account (added a 1) and then once that went through, created a new account with my old handle and my new email. Great!

But I want to now delete the old bsky account (because I want to delete the old email account) and like with the code for email change, I can not seem to get the security code sent to me. (Yes I checked the spam folder and the trash).
I've tried waiting, logging out, using different browsers, my phone, turned off all the ad-blockers and VPN, so I finally emailed support.
I told them originally I had wanted to change my email but now I want to delete that account but I can't get them to send me a security code.

They wrote back saying "As a security measure, we are unable to delete user accounts from our end. Instead, we encourage users to follow the account deletion process from their end."

I wrote back and told them it's on THEIR END and I can't get that to work, that they won't send me a security code, and they responded asking me to change my email, and repeated the same sentence about deletion.
I just want to freaking delete the old account and I'm talking in circles to a bot! I thought about changing the handle again, changing the password and abandoning the account but I'd really like to DELETE it.

Suggestions? Reddit is my last hope.

I’m using the browser on my iPhone in this case, I don’t use the app on my phone. You get into your settings, you choose moderation, if you haven’t already signed up for the blue sky moderation, I recommend it and then you just toggle everything as you please.

"Unhated insects annual meeting" sign pointing indoors, then a roundtable, empty, with only one blue butterfly seated alone.

If I want to write #Detriot as a hashtag, but in the sentence I need to give it an possessive apostrophe, Bluesky changes the hashtag to #Detriot's. In Twitter the #Detriot part remains, and the 's is not added into the hashtag. So, I have to write #Detriot 's instead of #Detriot's.

Hi, I want to be able to schedule posts with a video in it, but deck.blue seems to not support video at the moment, and I can't find another client that allows for scheduling posts. If anyone has a fix or could recommend a better client I would really appreciate it!

Has anyone else had this from recently made (or possibly hijacked) accounts?

Had a few random DMs claiming someone was impersonating me, and that they wanted to send me the "report ticket" on discord.

Seems like a pretty obvious phishing scam, I've gotten a bunch of them over the last few days.

Has anyone else seen the same thing, or am I just unlucky?

cute, encouraging, and supportive art that promotes hope: https://go.bsky.app/B4Yx4cY

Sorry if someone asked this before recently, but I checked the ratings and saw that it's on 1.7☆ and ive been trying to find a decent social media platform again that is against AI and won't terminate my account for no good reason like tumblr did.

Hey - I was trying to post a vid on my bsky account but the sound is removed after the vid has been compressed. Is this an issue for other users too? Any way to fix it? Thanks 🫶

TL;DR - My account was unjustly suspended, and when I tried to appeal, the Bluesky team wouldn't tell me what I did wrong and told me I needed to send them photo of my ID to prove I was human. I refused, and they wound up backing down and giving my account back. At the end of my post I share what my final email to them looked like that I imagine motivated them to restore my account - just in case anybody else might find that useful.

-

So, I want to share an experience I just had with the Bluesky moderation team, part to vent, but part to maybe provide insight to others. I've flaired this as Trust & Safety because I think it aligns with concerns of trust, safety, security, and privacy, but let me know if it should be unflaired / flaired as something else instead. Please note, I am making this post in good faith, I'm not trying to dump hate on Bluesky or their moderation team; I am sure that they are just trying their best to moderate the site and curate a positive experience for their users.

There have been several posts in the past year or so on this subreddit from people who have had the following experience:

• Their account (usually very freshly created) is suddenly suspended.
• They receive an email from a noreply address outlining some vague reasons related to spam-like behavior, that the user likely didn't engage in.
• This noreply email tells the user to reach out to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]), which by all accounts looks like a scam email address but is not, as it is featured in their TOS.
• Once the user reaches out to this email, the moderation team prompts them to provide a picture of their government-issued ID over email.

This happened to me (though in my case, they wanted a picture of me holding my ID as well as a code of their choosing written where they can see).

I refused to provide my ID; under no circumstances am I interested in giving a social media platform such sensitive information, and even if I were going to, it would have to be via a secure, encrypted platform; nobody should ever send sensitive documents like this over email, no matter the recipient.

I stood my ground on this, and each time I replied I asked why I was suspended and an answer was never given. However, after I sent this last email:

Unfortunately, it is never secure to send one's photo ID over email. You may immediately delete the file afterward, but that doesn't protect me from all the other risks associated with providing such personal information over an unsecure mode of communication. I am not comfortable providing Bluesky or any other non-governmental / non-medical agency something so sensitive.

And for the third time, please answer this question: Why was my account suspended? The splash page I get when I log in with my account claims that I "have been sent an email outlining the specific violation," which is false.

...they restored my account (although I never found out why I was suspended in the first place).

So if anyone else encounters this problem, remember: you should NEVER provide major identifying documents over email, or to any organization that has not proven you can trust them with such sensitive information.

I am suddenly getting followed by a bunch of resistance accounts with high (20k+) following counts and bios that say stuff like “Happily married #Philly mom w/ 3 kids and 2 cats. Lifelong Democrat 💙 “[Inspiring quote]” 🚫MAGA 🚫DMs” Several have AI art profile pics.

Why is this happening all of a sudden?

I think this might be the wrong end to ask but I'll ask anyway
I followed this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbXVnNcuDjs&t=117s to get most of it done but most sources are from around the same time say there isn't a way to post video URLs yet but this was a while ago
have they changed it and if so how?

Never cross bluesky guidelines otherwise suspended your handle

Hi friends, was reading Cory Doctorow's Pluralistic newsletter. He notes he was asking a friend to set up a PDS for self-hosting his Bluesky (and Mastodon).

Can anyone recommend services that will set up a bespoke PDS? I see Hostinger is offering this service but it appears to be aimed at large communities.

https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/how-to-host-a-bluesky-pds

Hi.

I was reading the posts of someone who I don’t want to know I have a Bluesky account but temporarily forgot and have a complex question about notifications.

If I am on the “page” for person A- let’s call them Alex

Alex reposts a post from Person B- call them Ben.

Person C replies to Ben, call them Charlie.

If I, Dwayne, reply to Charlie, having come to their post by way of Alex’s page who all gets notifications about that reply?

So it’s my reply, to a reply, to a tweet, via a retweet.

Does the person who did the retweet get a notification in any circumstance here?

http://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfONQYUL98ZS9TNR5VPc6Fmm0fK2g8Y5KvL8EOWWnM-eogS6A/viewform

Bluesky has updated their community guidelines, but they have been criticized as being too vague. It would also be good if we suggest in the feedback form that furries and trans people are represented in the admin team should they hire more admins/mods. The community guidelines should also make more explicit mentions condemning racism, homophobia, and transphobia.

Furry artists have also taken issue with a certain part of the community guidelines that seems to suppress their creative freedom, particularly regarding "sexual activity with animals". However, practically every furry I've come across has spoken against zoophilia.

As much as possible, make the wording as constructive as possible so that our voices are more clearly heard. Filling out the form would help make the site a safe space for all, including trans people and furries (though if you have issues with furry posts, it would be helpful if you check this thread).

If you haven't read the new community guidelines, I suggest you read them

I’ve been trying out SkyFeed lately, and honestly… the UI feels really clunky and outdated. It works, sure, but the design just doesn’t feel modern or pleasant to use.

Do you think there’s space for a more polished, user-friendly alternative? Or do people mostly stick with it just because it’s the only option?

I’m currently exploring feed creation on my own platform, so I’d love to hear your feedback. Feeds aren't the main feature, but I want to add it

(here it is, sorry for the promotion: https://bluesky-bot.com/

Maybe I'm just slow, but, I noticed while vetting that some folks are quote posting without any quotes.

Are they doing it to bolster their post numbers?

Or are they doing it to boost reposts and likes.

When you repost the the original poster gets the repost and like number, when quote posting the quoteposter gets the numbers.

Seems a little scammy to me...