hello!
bluesky is hoping and popping. seriously, it’s great. ~2016 twitter-vibes. no algorithmic timeline (except for the discover tab).
as my friend joel hooks said: “bluesky is more like twitter than x is.” i agree.
bluesky has added a ton of new users in the past few weeks. i think they just passed ~13 million accounts. and i’d love to see you there, next, my friend.
in a private slack i run, a friend asked:
“does anyone have a great bluesky 101 resource? it looks like twitter but assuming it doesn’t work exactly like it. how are you getting the most out of it?”
i shared a big ol’ thread reply—and now i’m sharing it with you. why? because bluesky is really great, and i hope to see you there.
getting started with bsky + major differences and things to know
bluesky is really similar to twitter. really similar. tweets (some people call ’em skeets, i call ’em tweets still), retweets, quote tweets, favs. minimal algorithmic feed crap (the discover feed has some, but that’s opt-in and separate from the main following feed).
a good mental approximation of “what exactly is bluesky?” is ‘2016 twitter with elements of 2009 twitter.’ that’s a good summation. very accurate.
this site is a great directory of bsky tools: https://blueskydirectory.com/. this is a good migration guide: https://www.bluesky-migrate.com/.
your default username is @[handle].bsky.social.
you can set your username to @domain.com — like @kaidavis.com — by uploading a text file to your site or by doing a DNS thing.
starter packs are a really great resource. people build a list of cool people to follow, like indie founders, ruby devs, marketers, freelancers, or soccer fans. it’s a way to port your social graph and share it with the community. i found initial people to follow by following starter packs—and i recommend you follow some starter packs and even create your own!
- my tweet on starter packs: https://bsky.app/profile/kaidavis.com/post/3l7gq5kgmjf2e
- joel hooks’ cool starter pack: https://bsky.app/starter-pack/joelhooks.com/3kvubopznv42u
- alex hillman’s cool starter pack: https://bsky.app/starter-pack/alex.stackingthebricks.com/3l7ehodhaai2l
also, you can peek at who people you enjoy are following and follow some of them. that’s how i found a lot of initial people to follow, like:
(grabbed from people i follow).
bsky is very different technically under the hood, and it’s cool to look into if you want to nerd out (in short: each profile is an individual website, and it uses the atpro protocol to share information; RSS is heavily involved). cool protocol.
there are also feeds which are community-created feeds of info. you can subscribe to these, and they show up at the top of your profile. you can flip to them like lists. very cool. i’m subscribed to some like ‘cat pics,’ ‘moss,’ and ‘sky pics.’
tips and tricks for bluesky search: https://bsky.social/about/blog/05-31-2024-search.
atpro is an open protocol, so info like who you have blocked or who is blocking you is public. clearsky is a way to see what lists you’re on, who’s blocking you, or who is blocking someone else. it shows that info, like this: https://clearsky.app/kaidavis.com/
alright, that’s what i’ve got for you. i hope to see you on bluesky, friend!
excelsior!
kai
p.s., bluesky lore post.
