Bluesky rolls out feeds with custom algorithms


One of Bluesky’s potentially biggest features is here: custom algorithms, or what it calls “custom feeds.” The idea is that you can subscribe to feeds that have algorithms tuned to showcase different kinds of posts than what you might see in Bluesky’s main “What’s Hot” feed.
In practice, the custom feeds work a lot like Twitter lists. Similar to those, you can pin specific custom feeds, and they’ll show up at the top of your timeline as different tabs to pick from. You can pick which feeds to pin from a new “My Feeds” menu in the app’s sidebar. By default, that tab has feeds for “What’s Hot” (“Top trending content from the whole network”), “What’s Hot Classic” (“The original What’s Hot experience”), “Bluesky Team” (“Posts from members of the Bluesky Team”), and “Popular With Friends” (“A mix of popular content from accounts you follow and content that your follows like”).
My Feeds also has a section to discover new feeds. There are a lot of options already, including tame feeds, like “Cat Pics” and “Music,” but also feeds that cater to the weirder side of Bluesky, like “Hellthread Feed” and “What’s Alf.” Best of all, you don’t actually have to pin any feeds, meaning that, if you want, you can set things up so that you only see a reverse chronological timeline of posts from the people you follow.
So far, I really like the implementation of these custom feeds. It’s nice to feel like I have some control in what gets algorithmically served to me, especially in a world where Elon Musk’s posts can take over Twitter and TikTok’s feed is extremely good at keeping me sucked into the app. And I wouldn’t be surprised if I often limit myself just to the feed of people I follow — I have enough distractions in my life already.
“We want a future where you control what you see on social media,” Bluesky CEO Jay Graber wrote in a March blog post about the platform’s vision for algorithmic choice. “We aim to replace the conventional ‘master algorithm,’ controlled by a single company, with an open and diverse ‘marketplace of algorithms.’”
Custom feeds are available now in the latest version of the mobile apps and on Bluesky’s web client, bsky.app. However, the Twitter alternative remains invite-only, so the only way you can try this for yourself is if you already have an account or if someone sends you an invite code. (I don’t have any spares, sorry!)
One of Bluesky’s potentially biggest features is here: custom algorithms, or what it calls “custom feeds.” The idea is that you can subscribe to feeds that have algorithms tuned to showcase different kinds of posts than what you might see in Bluesky’s main “What’s Hot” feed. In practice, the custom…
Recent Posts
- 3 features that would actually make me pay for a Samsung Health subscription for my Galaxy Watch – and one big problem it needs to avoid
- TikTok’s ‘ban’ problem could end soon with a new app and a sale
- 16-Core AMD EPYC 4005 CPU is almost 3X faster than AMD’s first server flagship – and I can’t believe what a bargain that is
- Samsung’s very special rugged tablet comes with eight – yes, eight – years of Android updates and hot-swappable batteries
- The latest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 leak is the first hands-on video of the flip foldable
Archives
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022