You’ve probably been hearing a lot of buzz around Bluesky recently. As of the end of February, the new-ish social media app is up to around 32 million followers — 15 million of which came since just last fall. But what exactly is it and why is the user count beginning to soar?

So, what’s it all about?

I often tell people who ask (and, to be honest, those who don’t) that Bluesky reminds me a lot of Twitter from 2018, and for good reason — it basically is. It was started as a research project by Jack Dorsey at Twitter in 2019 and became an independent company in 2021. It has the same interface and user experience as Twitter, but there is an X-factor at play here… Bluesky is built on what’s called the AT Protocol. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? It’s super rad. The AT Protocol is the decentralized network of servers that Bluesky is built on. It’s the social media app’s golden goose, allowing more freedom for users to own their own digital identities, their experience within the app, and the ability to move about and communicate with different apps operating on the same network.

It’s perhaps a bit of an oversimplification, but think of the AT Protocol like you would the network that email servers operate on. You have a choice over which email provider you use and can send and receive messages to anyone else, no matter which service *they* use. 

In short, the goal of the AT Protocol is to empower users with greater control over their data, enable customizable feeds, and prevent any single company from dominating the platform — just as the internet was meant to operate.

This open customization is also meant to allow independent developers to produce apps that work within the same universe. For instance, Berlin-based developer Sebastian Vogelsang developed an Instagram alternative dubbed “Flashes” that just recently entered its beta phase for iOS users. “Flashes” filters the Bluesky timeline for photos and video to give an Instagram-like experience, and since it operates on the same AT Protocol, users who comment and post on Flashes will have their comments and posts show up on Bluesky if they choose. 

All that being said! Here are my top 5 favorite things about Bluesky:

1. Advertisement-free experience

I’m going to be honest: I can’t really remember what it’s like having an ad-free experience on social. I know if I dive down far enough into the deepest recess of my mind, where photos draped in “Apollo” and “Nashville” dominated my feed I could catch a glimpse. But, fortunately, I don’t have to. Log into Bluesky and the only thing you will see is a fluid, chronological conversation centered around the things you actually care about, unimpeded by promoted content.

I will note, however, that Bluesky brass has not ruled out advertisements in the future and it is something they are actively considering alongside — unfortunately — a subscription model. But for now? It’s a thing of beauty.

2. Starter packs!

Listen, I get it. Starting fresh on a new social platform can be a little daunting. How do I build up a network similar to the ones I’ve spent years cultivating? Are the people I’m interested in following even on this new channel? How do I find new voices here? Is this thing on? Hello?

Either way, Bluesky had this problem kind of figured out for you with “Starter Packs.” Starter Packs are curated lists of users that fall into singular topics. Love books? There’s a starter pack for that. Love politics, breaking news, and quality journalism? Starter pack for that (er, those!). Sports? One for every league. Want higher education news and insight? You get the idea.

One of my favorite things about Bluesky starter packs, actually, is you will generally find them assembled by people you trust. For example, one of my favorite people to follow for NFL insight and news is ESPN’s Mina Kimes, who put together a Starter Pack that is chock full of her favorite NFL beat writers, analysts, podcast hosts, and bloggers.

It’s an incredibly useful tool to get the conversation started immediately on your feed and to find your lane to join a conversation in the things you are most interested in. Want to get the ball rolling? You can comb through a database of Starter Packs here! 

3. Algorithm and moderation control

The customization on Bluesky is incredible, and a big part of that is how you want your feed to look, feel, and filter content. Hop into the settings bar and you’re presented with a world of options for how you want your Bluesky experience to go. There are public, shareable lists of users and phrases to block or mute. You can follow/pin different feeds that are specific to any one topic or conversation. You have wide control over how other accounts can interact and reply to you.

And there are even third-party tools that anyone can develop and users can install to help with issues such as fact-checking, AI image-labeling, and filtering out harmful or insensitive users and content within your subscribed community. Essentially, if you want a stress-free social experience void of chaos it’s available to you (a stressful, chaotic experience is also available if that’s your bag).

4. Custom domains

One of the first things you may notice is that Bluesky handles are set up like domains (i.e. @xxx.bsky.social). That’s because, essentially they are domains, and each profile acts like one giving users abject mobility around different apps on the growing network. This also allows brands, organizations, and any user who owns a domain to customize their Bluesky handle under their domain — verifying their account and sub-accounts in the process.

For instance, CSU can grab @colostate.edu as their handle, with different colleges and organizations within our university then having the ability to attach themselves to it (@csuvetmedbiosci.colostate.edu, @CSUAgSci.colostate.edu, etc…). It’s a pretty unique offering as far as social apps go and is another example of Bluesky’s flexibility and commitment to giving a little bit of power back to the user.

5. It’s growing

As I mentioned at the top, BlueSky just recently topped 32 million followers. And I get it — that doesn’t seem like much when compared to the giants in the social space. But it’s starting to catch on in a very noticeable way, and the conversation is definitely starting to get going. The nascency of the platform opens up a great opportunity to build community, assert your brand/voice/organization as a thought leader in your space, experiment with strategy, and get real-time, customizable updates on the things you most care about.

Quick recap

In short, Bluesky has a lot of things going for it at the moment, and people are starting to figure it out. The network it runs on allows for unparalleled customization for users and third-party developers alike. The ad-free feed, tailored algorithms, and attention to moderation make for a unique and rewarding social experience. And though it’s still going through a few growing pains and still adding features that most social users are accustomed to (it only just recently added direct messages and video), the sky is the limit for this budding app that is starting to find its wings.