Bluesky is now allowing users to personalize their main Discover feeds. The social network is rolling out an updated version of its app that lets users offer feedback about its algorithmic feed so they can better customize it using “Show more like this” and “Show less like this” buttons in a post’s menu to choose which content the algorithm surfaces.
The change will help Bluesky users create a timeline that takes into consideration their own preferences, not what the company thinks they should see. The feature is somewhat similar to X (formerly Twitter), which lets users click on a “Not interested in this post” option within its own For You feed.
The new feature joins an already robust set of controls for configuring your Bluesky experience.
Unlike centralized social media platforms, Bluesky lets users roll their own custom feeds that others can subscribe to. These feeds may have different themes or algorithms than Bluesky’s own Discover feed, which gives you more ways to find interesting content across the network.
On top of this, the social network lets you subscribe to multiple moderation services so you can decide which sort of posts you want to see and what you’d rather stay hidden. Users can also create and run their own independent moderation services using Bluesky’s tool, Ozone.
By putting controls like this in the hands of its users, Bluesky is trying to create a platform whose policies and rules are not decided by a handful of executives at the top, but one in which users can craft their own experience. Unfortunately, the decentralized alternative to Twitter/X has struggled in the past with where the line should be in terms of what users should moderate and when it needs to step in.
In its early days, Bluesky repeatedly faced criticism over its mishandling of moderation challenges, like allowing usernames with racial slurs to slip through its filters.
In addition, when Bluesky responded to demand for moderation, it lost the support of its early backer, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. In a recent interview, Dorsey explained why he stepped down from the board, saying when Bluesky started kicking people off the service, he felt the company was repeating Twitter’s mistakes.
“This is not a protocol that’s truly decentralized. It’s another app,” he said of the decision.
Despite Dorsey’s concerns, Bluesky has continued to put more tools into the hands of users, whether it’s for designing your own feeds, algorithms and moderation services, or now, customizing the discovery feed.
Meanwhile, though Bluesky’s app remains the largest server running its decentralized AT Protocol, the company recently pointed to other efforts underway to build out a broader network, including the blogging platform whtwnd.com, also built on the AT Protocol (or atproto for short).
To date, Bluesky has grown to roughly 5.6 million users. The company recently said other big changes are on the way, including support for video, DMs, better custom feeds and anti-harassment features, OAuth and more.