What is Bluesky and should it be a part of your social media strategy?

The social media platform Bluesky started to achieve popularity in 2024 as an alternative to X (formerly known as Twitter) and Meta’s Threads. But what do you need to know about using the micro-blogging platform? As artists and creative and cultural organisations, should you be incorporating it into your social media toolkits?

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky has been around since 2019 but was originally invite-only. In 2024, the text-based app opened sign-ups to everyone and began to grow as an alternative to X. If you’ve already got an account, then you’ll probably notice a lot of similarities to the layout and functionalities of old Twitter. There’s a good reason for that, as Bluesky was created by the former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, although he is no longer involved with the platform.

Posts on Bluesky can contain up to 300 characters of text, links, and up to four photos or one video.

The Bluesky app is available on Android and iOS and a desktop browser version is also available.

Something that sets Bluesky apart from X is that this platform is decentralised.

What do we mean when we say Bluesky is “decentralised?”

Bluesky is a decentralised social media platform, which means that no single company or individual controls it. Instead, it runs on a system called the AT Protocol, which allows different servers—like separate communities—to exist while still staying connected within the network. Each server can have its own rules, but users can interact across the network. It’s like how email works – you can have a Gmail account but email your friend who is using Outlook, or another friend using Yahoo. This makes the platform more open, giving developers and individuals more control over the experience while making the network’s workings more transparent. Despite being decentralised, Bluesky isn’t part of the Fediverse like some other decentralised social media platforms. This means you can’t post to other social media apps from Bluesky.

How does the platform being decentralised affect the average user experience? If you’re not looking to create your own server, custom algorithms, or develop new tools and apps, then honestly you won’t really notice a difference. It just means there are more options available for those that do.

Which audiences can you reach on Bluesky?

Bluesky had a bumper year once it opened to public sign-ups, growing from 3 million users in February 2024 to over 30 million users by the end of January 2025. This is still a long way off the user bases of its main competitors, with Threads reporting to have 320 million active monthly users and X claiming 611 million active monthly users as of February 2025.

So, the numbers are significantly smaller than on Meta’s Threads and Elon Musk’s X, but this can actually be a positive thing! Bluesky’s smaller user base fosters close-knit, engaged communities, which can allow for kinder interactions and meaningful connections. As noted by Oban International, “Bluesky’s smaller, close-knit communities offer brands a chance to focus on authentic connections rather than mass advertising.” This intimate setting can create a safer and more pleasant space for users to share and connect.

The downside is that your audience may not be on here. Before setting up an account we would suggest checking whether your partners, competitors, or other relevant organisations and/or artists are on Bluesky. If they’re not, is it worth you joining? You could use it to focus on creating entirely new connections.

As with other text-based microblogging platforms (such as Threads and X), Bluesky’s audience is predominantly male and they make up 62% of all users.

Around two-thirds of users are under 34 years old, meaning that the platform can be useful for reaching younger people.

If politics are a factor for you when choosing a platform, then research analysing Bluesky’s network and user interactions found that users are predominantly left centre leaning.

10 things to know about how Bluesky works:

1. Unlike X’s default algorithm-driven home feed, Bluesky offers a chronological timeline, making it easier to see posts in real-time. So, if you’re following someone you will see all their content in order! This is particularly useful for live posting from events, such as conferences or award ceremonies.
2. You can create feeds as alternatives to the chronological timeline. A feed will be based around a topic of your choosing instead of just showing posts from users you follow. For example, you might be looking to follow a feed about libraries, museums, or musicians. You can choose feeds to follow by entering relevant keywords into the ‘Discover New Feeds’ section (look for the hashtag icon top right of the screen). Once you find a feed you’d like to follow, you can pin it to the top of your app. You can do this with multiple feeds.
3. Lists are a feature you can use to group together accounts. For example, you might want to create a list of industry experts or artists in Manchester. You can publish these lists on your profile. You can also find and/or create moderation lists of accounts that you don’t want to interact with. This allows you to auto mute or block everyone on the list. This can make for a more peaceful online experience.
4. Starter packs are a brilliant feature of the platform that are designed to help newcomers find relevant accounts and feeds to follow. If you’re new to Bluesky then starter packs are essentially a group of similar accounts or users posting about a particular topic, which you can follow in order to populate your home feed. You can create your own starter packs too – for example, you could create one to list the cultural organisations in your local town who are using the app.
5. Bluesky currently doesn’t have paid advertising, meaning your feed isn’t cluttered with promoted content. This means you can focus on having conversations and forming connections.
6. Currently there aren’t any in-platform analytics, however there is an independent free tool called Bluesky Meter that you can use to look at the analytics for any account without needing to register.
7. While you can’t schedule posts on the platform itself you can on third-party social media schedulers like Metricool, Planly, etc.
8. Unlike most social media platforms, Bluesky has no objections to you sharing links in your posts and as a result is becoming a good source of web traffic. In December 2024 some publishers reported seeing 3 or 4 times the referral traffic from Bluesky compared to X and Threads. If traffic to your website is very important to your objectives, then this could be a platform to trial.
9. Bluesky is becoming a better source for news and search, although it still doesn’t have the same number of journalists and news publishers as X and Threads. The platform added trending topics as a feature in December 2024, and you can use hashtags in the same way as other social media platforms. If you’re unsure how to use hashtags on social media, then this handy article from Sprout Social explains more.
10. Back in November 2024, Bluesky announced “A number of artists and creators have made their home on Bluesky, and we hear their concerns with other platforms training on their data. We do not use any of your content to train generative AI, and have no intention of doing so.”

Should creative and cultural organisations and individuals join Bluesky?

So, should creative and cultural organisations or artists add Bluesky to their social media portfolio?

There are two things to consider before you start an account on any new social media site:

1. Do you have the capacity for a new platform?

   Do you have enough staff resources to add another social media platform into your portfolio? Every new platform takes up resources, so consider the time and skills required to create posts, engage with the audience, and build up a new online community. Bluesky is at its heart a text-based platform, so the goal is to have conversations, not just post and disappear.

   If you don’t have capacity, but think that Bluesky would be a useful addition, then is there another platform you can shelve or spend less time on? Or other ways to make time?

2. Are your audience here?

   The audience on Bluesky is growing but it has slowed down since late 2024. We know that this platform is significantly smaller than its rivals Threads and X, so is it the right platform to speak to your audience? We know that this audience is predominantly a younger male audience. As there are less people using the platform you may find that it isn’t the place to find your main audiences. The main thing to do is to check whether there are others you would like to interact with on here – look for your partners, similar organisations, competitor venues, other artists, before making your decision.

Further support

The Digital Culture Network is here to support you and your organisation. Our Tech Champions can provide free one-to-one support to all creative and cultural organisations who are in receipt of, or eligible for, Arts Council England funding. If you need help or would like to chat with us about any of the advice we have covered above, please get in touch. Sign up for our newsletter below and follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) @ace_dcn for the latest updates.