Bluesky, the decentralized social network and Twitter competitor, has introduced a feature allowing users to view posts on its platform without the need to log in. While an invitation is still required to create an account and post content, users can now read posts through a shared link. Additionally, publishers can link to or embed Bluesky posts in blogs, and users have the option to share them in individual or group chats.
Bluesky users can activate a setting under Settings > Moderation > Logged-out visibility to prevent their posts from being displayed to logged-out users. It’s important to note that this limitation applies solely to Bluesky’s website and app, and third-party clients may not necessarily respect this setting, potentially displaying posts regardless. To maintain privacy and limit post visibility, users are advised to set their profiles to private.
In a recent blog post, Bluesky’s CEO, Jay Graber, revealed a new butterfly emoji logo, replacing the previous generic representation of a blue sky with clouds. Graber explained that the butterfly emoji 🦋 gained popularity among users as a symbol for their Bluesky handles, aligning with the platform’s mission to revolutionize social media.
Bluesky, having launched iOS and Android apps this year and amassed 2 million users, has implemented various moderation tools to address content-related concerns. Although Bluesky is currently the sole instance on the AT Protocol, it plans to pursue federation “early next year,” potentially expanding the network to include more servers and instances with distinct rule sets.
This announcement coincides with Meta’s Threads experimenting with ActivityPub integration. Following Meta’s recent announcement, Instagram head Adam Mosseri and the Threads team have begun making their accounts and posts visible on Mastodon and other compatible apps.
