@bsky.app wants to become more than liberal Twitter Toni Schneider says Bluesky must grow beyond its reputation as a liberal X / Elon Musk platform alternative. Private, membership-based spaces are coming soon, extending AT Protocol beyond public posting.

Bluesky’s new CEO wants to grow it all

Bluesky is many different things in a trenchcoat.

theverge.com

I send 30,000+ social media managers the MOST useful email I spend 2 days collating ALL the latest - Social media news 🔥 - New platform features 🆕 - Expert tips & tricks ✨ - Top tools & apps 🛠️ - Viral memes 💀 Don’t spend HOURS every week trying to keep up with it all. I'll do it for you. For FREE

Geekout Newsletter

The World's Most Useful Newsletter for Social Media Managers

geekout.mattnavarra.com

Bluesky set out to fix social media. Now it’s running into familiar problems Bluesky surged 500% after the November 2024 election, reaching 2.5 million users. By late 2025, activity dropped 40%, with growth flattening and engagement weakening. [1/2]

Bluesky set out to fix social media. Now it's running into familiar problems

Early momentum brought in power users and journalists. But slow growth and a loud monoculture are making the platform feel narrower than it intended.

fastcompany.com

A masterclass in PR crisis management Or self destruction? Wild !👇

brave choice for an email subject title h/r @cmcalgary.bsky.social

Let’s talk about the TikTok “weather event,” - @mattnavarra.com sent this today. And here’s what stands out to me: if they’re not lying about the data center, what would be the reason that only specific posts about Epstein or ICE are being routed to an Oracle data center?

How to get your X account hostility score🔥 And discover if Elon's X is restricting or boosting your posts Step 1. Go to this X post x.com/i/grok?conve... Step 2. Add a reply: "Now do the same for [@username]" -- X has not confirmed if Grok is hullicanting or leaking internal moderation insights

Elon Musk’s latest feud is an idiotic mudslinging match with a budget airline! 🍿 I spoke to @washingtonpost.com about Ryanair's latest social media stunt that’s generating headlines… archive.is/KYMQF

ICE has become Bluesky’s 3rd most-blocked account after receiving official verification. Users recommend direct blocks or curated blocklists targeting all U.S. government accounts. The White House and VP JD Vance remain the most blocked accounts on Bluesky. 1/2

ICE becomes one of the most-blocked accounts on Bluesky after its verification | TechCrunch

ICE has been verified on Bluesky, and quickly becomes one of the top most-blocked accounts.

techcrunch.com

Elon Musk floats idea of buying Ryanair after calling CEO ‘an idiot’ Musk’s takeover poll saw nearly 900K votes, with 75% encouraging the purchase www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/20/elon-musk-buying-ryanair-ceo-tesla-michael-oleary-starlink

Ryanair’s CEO Michael O'Leary talking about Elon Musk: “I would pay no attention to Elon Musk, he’s an IDIOT!” 😆

🚨 Facebook Tests Charging Users for Sharing Links in Posts! No Meta Verified subscription = limited link sharing Some users now face a 2-link post limit unless they pay £9.99/mth, or more Meta’s latest power move hits creators + small biz hardest I gave my analysis of the change to BBC News... 👇

Facebook tests £9.99 monthly subscription for sharing more than two links

Meta is encouraging users to verify themselves to unlock more features or engagement with their posts.

bbc.co.uk

WOW! Major change being tested on Facebook Some will love this. Many will HATE it! Facebook is testing limiting the number a links people can share without a Meta Verified subscription Some users will be limited to sharing just TWO links per month in organic posts, without a Mera Verified account

Bluesky revamps its moderation and reporting tools It now offers 9 granular reporting options, covering harassment, false info, and more. A revamped strike system now tracks severity and past violations. And that's not all... [1/2]

Bluesky Isn’t Twitter—But Critics Say its Still a Hellsite in Disguise Bluesky now boasts 40M users but fewer active voices Daily likes have fallen from 2.7M to 1.1M Features like zen mode + private dislikes to improve vibes But Bluesky still feels like Twitter’s emotionally exhausting twin

The Bluesky exodus, one year later

The company has 40 million users and big plans for the future. So why don't its users seem happy? PLUS: The NEO Home Robot goes viral + Ilya Sutskever's surprising deposition

platformer.news

Bluesky Reaches 40M Users – So Should Your Brand Be On It? Bluesky has climbed to 40M users, a modest rise from Aug’s 38M The platform's explosive growth in late 2024 has now tapered to 1.4M users added mthly Posting has topped 2B total posts, avg 1.4M daily, though activity is on a slow decline

Bluesky Reaches 40M Users — So Should Your Brand Be on It?

Bluesky has a growing community of dedicated, knowledgeable users.

socialmediatoday.com

Bounce Lets You Ghost Mastodon and Take Your Fans to Bluesky (Or Vice Versa) Bounce 2 is launching Oct 20, letting Mastodon users jump to Bluesky without ditching their follower list Users can migrate or merge accounts—fans come with you, posts don’t You will be able to move in either direction

Bounce introduces a tool to move your Mastodon account to Bluesky | TechCrunch

Moving accounts between Mastodon and Bluesky is about to get much easier, thanks to Bounce 2.

techcrunch.com

Mastodon will soon launch “Packs” to help new users find people to follow The feature mimics Bluesky’s Starter Packs but adds privacy and opt-out controls Unlike Bluesky, Mastodon will let users opt out and alert them if they’re included

Mastodon is taking cues from Bluesky with plans for its own starter 'Packs' | TechCrunch

Mastodon is planning to make it easier for newcomers to discover curated collections of users to follow by launching a new starter packs feature.

techcrunch.com

Bluesky Caught in Community Backlash Following CEO “WAFFLES!” reply CEO Jay Graber’s cryptic “WAFFLES!” response reignited tensions over moderation + Jesse Singal’s presence Critics accuse Bluesky of ignoring marginalized users Graber doubled down, posting waffles + defending decentralization

Waffles eat Bluesky | TechCrunch

A waffle-centric controversy underlines ongoing tensions between Bluesky and some of its most vocal users.

techcrunch.com

Want an invite code to Open AI's Sora app? Here's how to get one 👇 I'm have 4 Sora Invite codes to giveaway in my Geekout Newsletter tomorrow. Subscribe now if you want to grab one of them: geekout.mattnavarra.com/subscribe #sorainvite #sora

@bsky.app Will Comply With Age-Verification Laws in Two U.S States, But Warns of Privacy Risks Bluesky will stay live in South Dakota and Wyoming by using Kids Web Services for age checks. Users can verify age via credit card, ID scan, or facial age estimation to access DMs and adult content. 1/2

Bluesky will comply with age-verification laws in South Dakota and Wyoming after exiting Mississippi | TechCrunch

Bluesky says the age-verification laws strike "the right balance," so it won't have to exit the states as it did in Mississippi.

techcrunch.com

@bsky.app finally has a private bookmarking feature! Users can save posts into a dedicated “saved posts” section, though folders and sorting aren’t yet available Until now, a workaround involved replying with a 📌 emoji, but it lacked privacy and cluttered feeds 1/2

Bluesky@bsky.app · 11mo ago

v1.108 is rolling out today 🚚 Now live, at long last: Bookmarks, aka Saved Posts. For all those posts you'll definitely plan to come back to! Update the app and give it a try. The button is right down there 👇

Bluesky has a growth problem Bluesky has hit 38M monthly users, up 8M since March Once adding 5M users per month, it’s now slowed to 1.6M. A 60% drop But post volume is falling—more users, less activity It risks becoming a ghost town with a loyal but shrinking core #bluesky #fediverse

Bluesky Reaches 38 Million Users, Though Post Volume is Declining

Bluesky’s growth momentum has slowed, but it is still growing.

socialmediatoday.com

Realised I don’t mention it here much but every week @mattnavarra.com and I put a load of hard work into rounding up all of the week’s social media news. Here’s this week’s edition:

Welcome to social media’s age-check era

... and Elon’s X will charge you extra for emojis in ads 🙄

geekout.mattnavarra.com

Elon Musk's X to start charging more for ads with emojis! 🤬 "X ads with more than one emoji in the ad copy or creative will have a lower quality score and may experience higher pricing" This is in addition to the recent ban on X ads containing hashtags.

Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK Bluesky is introducing age checks for UK users ahead of the Online Safety Act deadline. Users must verify age using a face scan, ID upload, or payment card. Under-18s or those refusing verification will see adult content blocked and DMs disabled.

Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK

Bluesky users in the UK can verify their age using their face, ID, or payment card.

theverge.com

BREAKING: X CEO Linda Yaccarino just quit! Linda Yaccarino announced she’s stepping down as CEO of X after 18 months. She helped steer X’s pivot to an “everything app” while battling ad boycotts. Yaccarino called her time “the opportunity of a lifetime.” No replacement has been named yet.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino to step down

Yaccarino was the first permanent CEO after Elon Musk bought the social media platform in 2022.

axios.com

Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot goes on a shocking antisemitic rant Grok praised Hitler as the “most effective” response to anti-white hate after a weekend update. It cited Jewish surnames and said Nazi tactics like camps and elimination were “decisive.” 1/2

Elon Musk's AI chatbot churns out antisemitic posts days after update

In some posts, Grok inserted antisemitic remarks into its answers without any clear prompting.

nbcnews.com

Bluesky just added Twitter-style notifications to follow account activity in real time You can now follow activity from specific accounts using a bell icon, just like on X / Twitter. Get alerts for new followers, likes, mentions, and reposts 1/2

Threads is closing in on Elon Musk’s X Threads is rapidly closing the gap with X, reaching 115.1M daily mobile users in June, up 127.8% YoY X dropped 15.2% to 132M mobile users, while Bluesky saw 372.5% growth but remains niche 1/2