Bluesky tops 40m users and rolls out ‘dislikes’ in push for smarter moderation tools

Highlights

• Bluesky reaches 40 million users
  
• Platform to trial “dislikes” to tailor feeds
  
• New tools aim to improve conversation quality amid moderation debate
  

Dislikes to shape what users see

Bluesky has announced it now has 40 million users and will soon begin testing a “dislikes” feature designed to improve personalisation across its feeds. The tool will allow users to signal what they want to see less of, influencing rankings in the main Discover feed as well as reply threads.

The platform says the move will help surface more relevant conversations and reduce unwanted content, building on earlier efforts to create what it calls “fun, genuine and respectful exchanges”.

Push for user-driven moderation

The update follows internal debate on Bluesky about moderation standards. While the network is built around decentralised moderation giving individuals and communities power to filter and block some users continue to call for the company itself to ban harmful figures.

Bluesky maintains that its priority is providing stronger tools for users to manage their own experience. Existing features include moderation lists, content filters, muted words, external moderation services, and an option to detach quote posts to avoid unwanted attention a frequent complaint on X (formerly Twitter).

Mapping ‘social neighbourhoods’

The company is also trialling changes to how replies are ranked, including a system that maps “social neighbourhoods” groups of users who often interact. Replies from those closer to a user’s network will be prioritised, aiming to make conversations feel more relevant and cohesive.

This approach seeks to avoid the disjointed feed experience criticised on Meta’s Threads, where users have reported seeing conversations with little relevance to them and lacking clear context.

Tackling toxic and irrelevant replies

Bluesky says its latest model better identifies replies that are toxic, spam-like, off-topic or posted in bad faith, lowering their visibility in threads, search and notifications.

A small change to the Reply button will send users to the full thread rather than directly to the compose screen, encouraging context-reading before responding. The platform will also make reply-control settings more prominent, reminding users they can limit who replies to their posts.