Bluesky Surpasses 40 Million Users, Introduces Dislike Feature for Better Moderation

Bluesky has reached a significant milestone by surpassing 40 million users, as the platform prepares to roll out a new feature that allows users to express dissatisfaction with content through a “dislike” button. This addition aims to enhance the personalization of user feeds by enabling individuals to signal what they wish to see less of, thereby influencing the rankings in their main Discover feed and reply threads.

The introduction of the dislike feature aligns with Bluesky’s ongoing efforts to foster what it describes as “fun, genuine and respectful exchanges.” The decision comes after internal discussions regarding the platform’s moderation standards. While Bluesky promotes decentralized moderation, empowering users and communities to filter their own experiences, there is ongoing pressure for the company to take more decisive action against harmful figures on the platform.

Bluesky emphasizes that its primary objective is to equip users with advanced tools to manage their own interactions. Existing functionalities already include moderation lists, content filters, muted words, and external moderation services. Additionally, users can detach quote posts to minimize unwanted attention, a feature frequently mentioned in critiques of X (formerly Twitter).

Enhancing User Experience with New Features

As part of its efforts to refine user experience, Bluesky is also testing changes to how replies are ranked within conversations. This new system aims to map “social neighbourhoods,” which group users based on their interactions. Consequently, replies from users within a closer network will be prioritized, making conversations feel more relevant and cohesive. This approach seeks to counter the disjointed feed experience that has been criticized on platforms like Meta’s Threads, where users report encountering conversations that lack relevance and context.

In addition to the dislike feature and ranking adjustments, Bluesky is implementing measures to better identify and reduce the visibility of replies that are considered toxic, spam-like, off-topic, or made in bad faith. This will apply across threads, searches, and notifications, helping to create a more constructive environment for dialogue.

Another minor but significant change involves the Reply button, which will now direct users to the full thread rather than the compose screen. This aims to encourage users to read the context before responding. Furthermore, Bluesky plans to make reply-control settings more visible, reminding users that they can limit who can respond to their posts.

As the platform continues to evolve, Bluesky remains committed to improving user experience while addressing the complexities of content moderation in a decentralized environment.