Ask a Manager on Bluesky

by Alison Green on January 16, 2025

Just a heads-up that Ask a Manager is on Bluesky in case you’re over there:

bsky.app/profile/askamanager.org

If you’ve been considering trying Bluesky but haven’t made the leap: I really like it. It has a lot of the stuff that used to be great about Twitter before it imploded, plus cool features like being able to mute posts with particular keywords (so if you just can’t handle hearing anything about llamas this week, you can eradicate them from your feed), there are cool “starter packs” (so if you want to quickly follow a bunch of people who post about science or linguistics or yarn or cats or whatever your interest is, you can just subscribe to the relevant starter pack), you can have your chronological timeline back without an algorithm overruling your choices about your feed, the engagement is more interesting, and so far it’s just … nicer.

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  1. Nicosloanicota*

    Thanks for the reminder! I used to love Twitter (you have to curate your community carefully, but it’s not all garbage fire neck beards) – lately I’ve realized there are also some good corners of Reddit, which I had totally written off as Not For My Demographic, but it’s the same deal. You find the right area and it’s great. Of course all platforms are being taken over by bots/AI/enshittification generally right now, but I’ll try Bluesky and enjoy it while I can.

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    1. TooTiredToThink*

      I’m finding Reddit to be 1000% better than Facebook groups. I only use it a little bit; but it’s already been helpful for me when I was trying to find some specific information. I appreciate being able to see the downvoting too lol.

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      1. Rainy*

        I read the first six words and thought “oof, Reddit is so iffy though” and then saw “than FB groups” and, well, yeah. But the FBification of Reddit is really accelerating.

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        1. TooTiredToThink*

          It may be because I’m looking for very niche information – like how to get past a door in a video game.

          I did have to mute the subreddit for my industry because Reddit keep offering me up the posts about everyone scared getting mad at our employer(s) for my own mental health.

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          1. Sloanicota*

            Yeah I use it for a niche craft and it’s good for that, but I think that’s just one specific community. There are communities on FB too but you have to log in to see the conversation and it all just feels like more effort.

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      2. Not A Raccoon Keeper*

        Ditto, Reddit (deservedly) got a bad rap in the 2010s, but there are a lot of great discussions there! Outdoor activities, crafting, crafting for outdoor activities (aka MakeYourOwnGear or r/myog), financial planning, design and renovation…so great. There are also a lot of women/femme/non-men only spaces which can be a massive relief (iykyk). Some niche subreddits that are excellent are ones where experts help you figure out mysteries, like r/whatisthisbug and r/whatisthisbird. 10/10.

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        1. A Simple Narwhal*

          Yes, I love the Help Me Find or Tip of My Tongue subreddits! Recently someone asked for help finding a low-budget ninja movie his dad was in in the 80s (got recruited to play a henchman for one scene while backpacking through Asia). He only had some vague details and a couple photos his dad had from the filming, and he had been fruitlessly searching for years. The community found it within an hour!

          Other examples are people trying to hunt down something from their youth that they only have an old photo of, or a song or movie they only have a vague memory of. Those subreddits are a rare example of using the internet hive mind for good.

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          1. AnotherOne*

            yeah, my sister and i rediscovered this random thing when going thru our mom’s jewelry, google was mystified when we searched it, neither of us had a clue.

            no one has come up with an answer but they have come up with ideas that my sister and i would have never thought of. and just knowing that i could go there is great.

            at the same time, it’s helpful in places and in corners. and sometimes you’ll be on a post and it just becomes all of these people wanting to help some random stranger, which is really great. not judgment- just a moment of ‘hey, this is the world of stuff you might not be aware of.’

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    2. Audiophile*

      I was a holdout on Reddit for years because I’d heard such bad things. I joined in the 2010s when I was looking for things to do and places to go in my county. That sub and some others have made me stick around. It’s not perfect, of course, but then again nothing ever is. Anyway, now I’m a proud Reddit mod of several subs.

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    3. Try Reddit, to the tune of Buy Menin*

      I use Reddit as my default search engine anymore. Google’s results have been less and less reliable over the last few years, and now with their “AI summary” they are completely useless most of the time.

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    4. That Paralegal*

      This is what I realized about Reddit: it is full of know-it-alls, but in a good way. Do you have a question? Someone there WILL have an answer for you, if you find the right sub. I love that about it.

      It does require careful use to avoid the dumpster fires, but at this point that’s true of most social media.

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    6. Artemesia*

      Twitter is now a propaganda agent for Trump. I will be canceling my registration on January 20 and would encourage others to do so as well and move to bluesky.

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      1. Elizabeth West*

        I know but I hate to give ground to N@z!s, and there are still some cat and writer accounts I like there. I did lock my small press account and opened one on Bluesky.

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        1. Southern Violet*

          I get it but the Nazis bought the bar, so to speak. Bluesky is trying to billionaire proof itself, by contrast.

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  3. Agent Diane*

    There’s also a stronger culture of reporting and blocking (aka the latest iteration of “don’t feed the trolls”). And blocking someone is a hard block. People are a lot more comfortable hitting block quickly.

    If people are thinking of trying Bluesky, I would recommend setting up your profile with a short description and a pic before you start following accounts. People are way more wary of anon looking profiles there.

    And if you are going there straight from the old blue bird site? Take a couple of weeks to adjust to the different atmosphere! I’ve seen some Big Name Tweeters arrive on BlueSky firing on all cylinders only to discover people were backing away from them.

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    1. TooTiredToThink*

      What do you mean by “hard block”? Maybe it’s more obvious to someone who uses Twitter – but I’m mostly a Facebook/Tiktok person. For some reason Twitter and Instagram never super appealed to me.

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      1. Funko Pops Day*

        If you block them, they cannot see anything you do and you cannot see anything they do. Like if a third person posts something, and you both reply, the blockee cannot see your reply or any replies-to-your-reply, or vice versa. It basically mutually erases you.

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        2. JB (not in Houston)*

          Yes, and it keeps people from arguing in your timeline, which is a great feature. Twitter let you block the person in your comments, but other people could still see the blockee’s comment, and arguments could keep going in your mentions. Great feature.

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          1. TooTiredToThink*

            Ah, ok this helps. I’m used to blocking people on Facebook and Tiktok and if you block them, you’ve blocked them. There’s no side-effect like issues with mentions.

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            1. Lenora Rose*

              I still see replies to blocked comments in Facebook threads (as long as someone else started the thread), I just don’t see the person that I blocked. This also hides responses like that. So, you not only never see their jerkery, but you also don’t get dragged into reading all the people dunking on them.

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    2. Loredena*

      Also while you can quote post, if the OP is getting swarmed they can remove their post from yours! Definitely happens when someone with a lot of followers quotes someone smaller

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    3. Janeway, Her Coffee In Hand*

      They also have moderation lists, curated lists of users that you can block or mute all at once if you really don’t want to see that type of content, like a particular lean of politics or a bigotry or a type of business you disagree with. I’ve subscribed to several and it’s remarkably effective for keeping that content entirely away.

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      1. Thegs*

        I would be careful around those. There have been some that are managed by malicious users, for example a “pedo blocklist” that operates as normal and spreads around, and then once it has thousands of subscribers they start adding innocent LGBT people to it.

        As with all things you do not personally manage, buyer beware.

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    4. Southern Violet*

      Yup the nuclear block is awesome. Not only makes it so you cant see them, but they and their followers cant see you. Which makes brigading from behind a block a LOT harder. I would absolutely suggest people get familiar with all the tools they have for following and blocking.

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    2. Saturday*

      What’s great about BlueSky is that you don’t have to have an account to read posts (another way it’s like Twitter used to be). I’ve really been enjoying it. I looked for AAM on there earlier, so I’m glad to see this update!

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  5. Tea Monk*

    There are certain important things people need to know. Following an account puts it in your feed so don’t mass follow. You’ll get blocked if you mass follow, have no bio or posts.
    Also please use alt text on pictures.

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    1. JB (not in Houston)*

      OTOH, there is no algorithm in the mail “following” feed, so unless you follow a lot of people or people who post a lot, that feed will be pretty boring. So if you don’t want to follow a lot of people, you’ll need to subscribe to some feeds to make it interesting.

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      1. Tea Monk*

        I only follow 800 people and mine is full. I curate and look at feeds. If you follow more than 5000 people especially if you don’t talk to people, you may be blocked

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      2. Loredena*

        I follow almost 1000 which took me from an empty feed to a too busy one. I do take advantage of the various feeds as a result. I also subscribe to a couple labels and moderation lists (I default to mute not block, then block as needed). I love the nuclear block though! In general I find it much friendlier than most social media

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      3. Lenora Rose*

        I follow about 400 total, and my feed is practically crowded, and I occasionally miss out on posts by some folks I especially love to read. I honestly don’t know how people with 1000 do it.

        DO subscribe to Bluesky moderation, and if you do, put your birthday in. Then you can choose whether to block or just hide either violent or sexy content. (I was annoyed that I could choose whether or not to block violent content or let it through, but didn’t have any option but blocked even for merely suggestive sexual content… then realised that was because without a birthday, it had to treat me like a minor. Still annoyed they don’t block extreme violence from minors, but that’s a different rant.)

        The alt text thing: it’s really nice! Not just for the visually impaired, since I’m not, but for things like if, say, you post a picture of an actor as a reply, I can double check that it’s from the movie and event I think it’s from to make sure I get the context.

        There’s a handy setting to make sure you remember, and you don’t need to be elaborate, just better intentioned than “Someone said to put alt text so here it is.” (Yes, people have done that. No, it does not go over well.)

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  6. SD95*

    I like Bluesky. It doesn’t have all the features of Twitter/X but I like that it seems “calmer” there without all the vitriol.

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  7. Gh0st*

    Glad to see you on Bluesky! I made the switch recently because Twitter is such a hateful mess (and is helmed by an active threat to democracy). Since switching, I’ve found Bluesky to be a lovely platform that’s growing rapidly!

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  8. Dawn*

    I was on Bluesky, until things went very, very badly in my community and I realized that I just shouldn’t be using social media at all because it does bad things to my emotional state.

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  9. OlympiasEpiriot*

    There are TOPICAL FEEDS. I prefer that to starter packs. Sometimes I’ll be interested in, say someone’s gardening stuff but don’t want to read about their love for Backstreet Boys, cooking, and their arguments with a coworker. So, I can see when they post on the gardening feed and don’t otherwise have to follow them.

    Also, if you register at Bluesky, PLEASE set your default in your settings to remind you to add Alt Text to any images! It was a big part of the culture of the early-stage Bluesky and with the recent mass influx, it’s getting lost. Alt Text isn’t just kind and helpful for people who use screen readers, it also helps explain your image (some aren’t so clear) AND the text in there is searchable — so it is very helpful for you and surfacing your posts

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    1. Emma*

      I love that they have this setting, though I wish it were a default. I often opted in, and it’s been a helpful reminder to do alt text, since it literally won’t let me post an image without it.

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  10. Seal*

    Bluesky is SO much better! The mute feature is a nice option, although I can’t imagine how bad my week would have to be where I couldn’t bear to hear about llamas.

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      1. Dinwar*

        I was on a forum, back when those were a thing, where the owner (and it was made VERY clear that he was the owner and could make unilateral decisions) occasionally wiped out one of the sub-forums. We referred to them as nukes, and surviving a few nukes was a mark of moving beyond newb status.

        It’s sort of odd, but I think such things make the internet better. They’re absolutely horrific in real life, but nuclear options in online discourse tend to make things more civil. If everyone knows there are actual consequences for their actions (even if they’re limited to not being able to engage with a particular person) it makes a difference.

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        1. Lenora Rose*

          I think there are much better ways to moderate a personal internet space than those (I’m still intensely fond of disemvowelling* for trollish comments), but once you’ve grown past what a single person or small group can moderate, you need bans and blocks and mutes.

          * Y dsmvwl cmmnts b rmvng ll vwls; th trly dtrmnd rdr cn stll fgr t wht ws sd, bt t tks wrk nd srvs s wrnng th cmmnt ws lkly rd. And sometimes if only one bit is rude, the poster only gets part of their comment thus treated, to show the border between “Don’t do that again” and “But this is appropriate”.

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  11. Toot Sweet*

    I got on Bluesky a couple months ago, and I love it! You nailed it: it’s like Twitter before “Leon.” I’ll definitely follow.

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  12. many bells down*

    I can actually read comments again! And if there is a troll or a jerk, they’re way down the replies and not boosted to the top.

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  13. GhostGirl*

    I made the full transition to bsky the day after the election and I’ve never gone back. It’s so much nicer.

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  14. BeCarefulOutThere*

    One thing to be aware of with Bluesky is that it’s my understanding that there currently are essentially no privacy settings — you can’t restrict access to your posts. You can block people and prevent yourself from having to see or interact with them, but they can log out and continue to read your posts. So please be cautious about posting any personal information or real-life stuff that you don’t want publicly out there.

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    2. Caramel & Cheddar*

      You can restrict replies similarly to Twitter, but if you’re looking for a 100% private account like you can have on Twitter, Bluesky doesn’t have that. It’s apparently something to do with a core functional element of how Bluesky code was originally written/conceived, so despite lots of people asking for it and the Bluesky folks knowing people want it, getting it is apparently going to be a long wait.

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    3. Loredena*

      Kind of! There’s a Logged-out visibility setting under privacy. You will not be shown by bksky via app or site, nor by clearsky, if logged out But a determined person could see it in other ways l

      Discourage apps from showing my account to logged-out users
      Bluesky will not show your profile and posts to logged-out users. Other apps may not honor this request. This does not make your account private.
      Note: Bluesky is an open and public network. This setting only limits the visibility of your content on the Bluesky app and website, and other apps may not respect this setting. Your content may still be shown to logged-out users by other apps and websites.

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    4. Halloween Cat Lady*

      Realizing this has definitely stopped me from posting any personal content other than occasional cat pictures. I do like it as a curated news analysis source, though. If I’m fired or not hired for reposting Heather Cox Richardson or following AAM, so be it.

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  15. Barefoot Librarian*

    I ditched the blue bird right after the Muskrat bought it and am in the process of moving off FB (harder because of family, long-distance friends, and especially my communities and groups). I’m replacing those with Discord (fortunately many of my groups have MORE active groups there) and Bluesky and I’m honestly already happier. I’m so glad AAM is there. :)

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  16. Sometimes I Wonder*

    I like Mastodon. The instance I’m on has good, strict, and well-enforced rules against spam, verbal abuse, threats of violence, etc. I found people to follow and also follow certain keyword tags (e.g., “labor” to pick up notices of strikes or new union organizing efforts) to get interesting information and find new people to follow. I support my instance through Patreon – no ads and it’s locally controlled, so no big corp or crazy billionaire can take over and turn it into a mess.

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    2. Lenora Rose*

      The instances on Mastodon where people I cared to hang out near got signed up were closed too quickly, and I heard too many stories of instances whose moderators/owners/whatever they’re called just closed up unilaterally to trust myself to a different one without a lot of vouching. And Bluesky seems easier to navigate.

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  18. Mary MKS*

    Your Blueksy posts can be shared to Mastodon too, if you opt in. You just have to follow the @ap.brid.gy account from the Bluesky account you’re using. Then your posts will be “bridged” to Mastodon, and I can follow you from my account there. I’m sure you have other fans there and on other “federated” social media as well, so I probably am not the only one who would be happy if we could follow you there!

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  19. Descgrx2*

    I like blue sky as a replacement for Twitter, but not for Facebook. As I’m still super Covid conscious Facebook is my main outlet for convening with friends and contact.

    However, I am considering going off both blue sky and Twitter for the time being, as the immediate of news that gets posted Has been detrimental to my mental health, especially around election issues.

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    1. DefinitiveAnn*

      I have set up a list with the tag “like Facebook” and when people I know IRL or from other places on FB follow me, I add them to the list. The privacy settings (no locked accounts; all are public) are a drawback for some.

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    2. Artemesia*

      lots of friends and family have opted out of Facebook for good reason but it is one way I keep in touch with people who are not nearby — and the pluses still outweigh the negatives for me.

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    3. No Longer Gig-less Data Analyst*

      I have had to explain to so many people in my FB feed that BlueSky has a very different user experience than Facebook. A lot of them were never on Twitter, so they don’t understand the limitations and come back complaining that they can’t add 20 pictures of their bathroom remodel or write 17 paragraphs about their trip to the supermarket.

      I left Twitter right after the election and Bluesky has been a wonderful replacement for that, but it’s NOT a substitute for FaceBook.

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    4. Lenora Rose*

      Yeah, I simultaneously don’t want to use the mute function on the names of certain leaders of countries (or countries, or locales) because too much genuinely important news would get eaten… and also don’t enjoy the sheer **frequency** of discussion about same. Mostly I control it by trying to follow a lot of people who will be talking about other things.

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  21. Csethiro Ceredin*

    Seconded. I made the move to Bluesky a few months ago, and apart from some of the usual random followers who immediately DM, it’s a lovely environment. It’s so easy to… just never see someone or something again if that’s what you want. And no ads.

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  22. NCA*

    I’m enjoying Bluesky a fair bit (although it is by no means a direct replacement for Facebook in functionality). One thing I stumbled across by unwelcome accident the other day though, and I’m warning others about – disabling ‘adult content’ does NOT disable things tagged as p0rn or nsfw. Found this out the hard way while scrolling through a feed of otherwise lovely content. Muting those individual tags seems to have helped. (I have zero judgement on people who enjoy such content – I just personally would rather it not show up for me)

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    1. ThatGirl*

      the filters should get most of it, especially imagery, and you can set up warn or block suggestive images, etc. You can also mute words and phrases, as you note.

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    2. Lenora Rose*

      Bluesky moderation service has caught most of it for me (in fact they hide some things as sexually suggestive I would argue are not even that inappropriate). I wouldn’t be surprised that some get through, though.

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  26. Elizabeth West*

    One of the unwritten Bluesky practices is not to engage with trolls to avoid lengthy argument threads — just block them. It’s so nice. I mean, I’m sure it won’t stay that way forever because people are gonna people, but so far I’m enjoying it. I’m even trying not to curse over there.

    Still on Twitter, where I curse with impunity, haha.

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  27. Cruciatus*

    I can’t figure out how to create an account for Bluesky. I open the app, hit “create account” and then it says “Hosting provider” and I leave it as Bluesky Social, then my next options are “Back” and Next”. So I click “Next” and then it yells at me to enter my email, but there is no email box offered on screen. I’ve had other people look at it. Does anyone know what I’m missing?

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  28. It's Marie - Not Maria*

    I recently joined BlueSky, and while I am not super active, most of the content doesn’t make me cringe. I recently described it to a friend as “It’s for people with open minds, who aren’t afraid to think for themselves.”

    Reply ↓

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