A queer guide to Bluesky—the gays' chosen alternative to X/Twitter

The skyline is looking amazing right now!

From thoughts to thirst traps, from out-of-pocket posts to oomfs, from discourse to DMs — one thing about the gays: they will find an online space to be as chaotic, flirtatious, and liberated as possible… and we love that about our community!

Truth be told, the social network previously known as Twitter was already flopping even before Elon Musk entered the scene to acquire the site. And after he did — rebranding an iconic social network that literally introduced new words like "tweet" to the dictionary — the newly-named X platform became even more unbearable with inconsistent "freedom of speech" guidelines, changes in permissions for blocked users, and a paid verification system that defeated the purpose of the entire ecosystem.

The X/Twitter exodus has been happening for a while, and the Meta-owned Threads app even made some great progress in 2023. Nonetheless, it seems like a worthy rival to X/Twitter has finally emerged.

Keep scrolling to read our queer guide on Bluesky — and don't forget to follow Out's profile at @out.com!

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is a text-based social network that looks, feels, and works very similarly to X/Twitter — and that's not a coincidence! Bluesky started out as an experiment inside Twitter, in 2019, when Twitter was still run by then-CEO Jack Dorsey.

Unlike X/Twitter, Bluesky is a decentralized social media network built upon the (still in development) so-called AT Protocol.TechCrunch explains:

"Bluesky is using an open source framework built in-house, the AT Protocol, meaning people outside of the company have transparency into how it is built and what is being developed."

When was Bluesky first launched?

Bluesky was launched on February 28, 2023 as an invite-only beta social network.

When Musk acquired Twitter, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey managed to cut legal and financial ties between Bluesky and Twitter (via The New York Times). However, considering that Bluesky was already a work in progress inside Twitter for a few years, Dorsey and his team were able to launch it as a standalone social network as early as February of 2023.

For context, Meta only launched Threads in early July of 2023, and Musk only rebranded Twitter as X toward the end of that same month.

Is Bluesky still an invite-only social platform?

No! Following its initial launch in February of 2023 as an invite-only platform, Bluesky was opened up to the public — and no longer required an invitation for new users to join — starting in February of 2024 (via The Verge).

What's the current Bluesky member count?

At the time of this article's publication, Bluesky has just reached 20 million total users who signed up for this new social network (via theo.io)

The public launch of Bluesky — in other words, not requiring an invitation for anyone to join — has been a key factor in its recent success. Specifically, just a week ago, The New York Timesreported that Bluesky's total number of users and overall growth "has exploded, more than doubling to 15 million-plus users."

How do Bluesky usernames work?

Unlike most social media platforms in 2024, Bluesky has a different structure for the social handles of its users.

If you don't own a domain that reflects your identity and/or, don't freak out! Most people don't — and, in those cases, Bluesky has a default handle structure consisting of @username.bsky.social. As seen in the screenshot above, you can follow 2024 Out100 honoree Rachel Maddow on Bluesky via @maddow.bsky.social.

If a person or brand owns a domain, that can be used to set up as your Bluesky handle. For example, as seen in the image above, you can follow Out on Bluesky via @out.com.

My own Bluesky account, as deputy editor of Out, has also been set up with my personal domain: @bernardosim.com.

Thankfully, if you own a domain but are confused by the process, you can refer to this step-by-step guide published on the official Bluesky blog.

What does FCF mean on Bluesky?

🤣 I just found out what FCF means I’m slow AF. Okay sorry next post will prob be a nude 🤷

— Rookii (@rookiibottom.bsky.social) November 19, 2024 at 8:47 AM

If you feel uncomfortable reading about topics such as nudity and sex… maybe you should skip to the next section!

"FCF," on Bluesky, means "Fat Cock Fridays." And yes, you did read that correctly. This trend means that every single Friday on Bluesky can turn into a free-for-all posting of thirst traps and nudes (particularly penises).

If you work in finance, FCF means "Free Cash Flow." Not on Bluesky, though!

On that note: after signing up on the social platform, you have to adjust a few settings in order to see mature/explicit content (if you want to see it, that is).

How do you enable adult content & sexually suggestive posts?

You can easily enable and disable certain kinds of content on Bluesky by going to Settings, Moderation, and finding the Content Filters section. However, be mindful that these changes are mostly done on the official Bluesky website (not via the app) for the time being.

For nudes and NSFW content to show up on your Bluesky timeline — which some have nicknamed skyline — you need to turn on the "Enable Adult Content" toggle. From there, you can get more specific about how much you'd like to moderate your feed.

Options include "Show," "Warn," and "Hide" for posts deemed as "Adult Content," "Sexually Suggestive," "Graphic Media," and "Non-Sexual Nudity."

Who runs Bluesky?

This is the future I want for us

[image or embed]

— Jay 🦋 (@jay.bsky.team) November 18, 2024 at 5:50 PM

Bluesky has been run by CEO Jay Graber since February 2024 (via TechCrunch).

"We as a team take pride in our ability to scale quickly," 33-year-old Graber told The New York Times, while also noting that the company has a small team of 20 full-time employees at the moment. "But there's always some growing pains," she added.

It's a popular belief that former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was still running Bluesky, but that hasn't been the case for a while now. After launching Bluesky as a standalone platform and serving as its CEO, Dorsey left the Bluesky board in May of 2024, which was also reported by TechCrunch.

Is it worth it to join Bluesky?

The general consensus among Bluesky users is that the platform reminds them of Twitter back in 2010. There are discussions, of course, but they are much less violent.

Generally speaking, there aren't that many conservative-leaning or full-on MAGA users on Bluesky yet. Most of them are thrilled about Musk's connection to the Trump 2.0 presidency, so they've chosen to deliberately stay on X to follow their updates. This reality will likely change over time if Bluesky continues to grow. But, hey, it's a pretty fabulous experience for the time being!