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Around half a million people have ditched social media platform X for Bluesky after it recently announced plans to essentially eliminate blocking. The decentralized social media app that began as an in-house project for Twitter, has rapidly emerged as one of the most popular alternatives to Elon Musk’s X platform.
Recent policy changes at X, particularly concerning the “block” feature, have contributed to this shift. First announced in September, the changes to the block button have now been implemented. Under the new rules, users who are blocked can still view your public posts but cannot engage with them through replies, likes, or other interactions.
Soon we’ll be launching a change to how the block function works.
If your posts are set to public, accounts you have blocked will be able to view them, but they will not be able to engage (like, reply, repost, etc.).
— Engineering (@XEng) October 16, 2024
Although blocked users are restricted from direct interaction, they can still engage with your followers or commenters and even screenshot your posts to share them elsewhere. The shift in the blocking policy has prompted another wave of users to leave X, many of whom are migrating to Bluesky.
Are they doing a “get kicked off the App Store speed run”?
Because a legitimate block button (that actually blocks) is required to even be on the App Store lmao pic.twitter.com/SYcE9eEsrL— Rachel Tobac (@RachelTobac) October 16, 2024
Twitter decided to ruin how blocking works to "prevent harassment, dogpiling and echo chambers"
but in bluesky they have a normal block feature and have actual features like DISABLING QUOTE TWEETING to actually prevent harassment without making a basic feature fucking null pic.twitter.com/UcvomzHdzr
— HAPPIX! (@NekoHappix) October 17, 2024
In one day alone, Bluesky saw a surge of half a million new users following these changes, adding to the two million who joined after Musk temporarily got X banned in Brazil, a decision that has since been reversed.
How to migrate to Bluesky from X
However, building a following from scratch on Bluesky can be challenging. To make this process easier, users have turned to the Sky Follower Bridge extension. This tool simplifies the task of migrating your follows and block list from X (formerly Twitter) to Bluesky, making it less tedious to reconnect with your old network.
The Sky Follower Bridge extension is available for Chrome, Firefox, and GitHub. While it doesn’t make the process entirely seamless, it reduces the hassle of finding and reconnecting with people on Bluesky. After installing the extension, users can visit their X profile, navigate to the list of people they are following, and activate the extension from their browser’s toolbar. A popup will tell them to log into their Bluesky account.
Once logged in, the extension identifies followers who have matching Bluesky accounts by using three criteria: same handle name, same display name, or a handle name included in their description. Users can scroll through the generated list and select whom they want to follow on Bluesky with a simple click. While there isn’t a “select all” option, this method is still far easier than searching for people manually.
After processing the list of people you’re following, you can repeat the process for your followers, so that it is easier to transition on to Bluesky while keeping your social circles from X.
ReadWrite has reached out to Bluesky and X for comment.
Featured image: Canva
