Great moderation tools are key to building a successful social media website, something the developers behind rising X (formerly Twitter) competitor Bluesky seem to understand. In particular, the Bluesky development team has spent a significant amount of time building strong anti-harassment features. If you’re being brigaded by a bunch of trolls, or if someone is running a targeted harassment campaign against you, you will find it a lot easier to evade their attacks and block them into oblivion on Bluesky, so you can actually enjoy social media again. Here’s some of my favorite anti-harassment tools for Bluesky.
Create block or mute lists
Bluesky lets you create a list of accounts and block them all in one go. Once you create a list, you can keep adding accounts to it to automatically block them. This is an easy way to block accounts engaging in trolling, spam, or harassment. Start by going to Bluesky’s moderation lists settings page (under Settings > Moderation > Moderation lists) and selecting the New button in the top-right corner. Once you’ve created your list, click the Subscribe button up top and select Mute accounts or Block accounts, depending on how you want to deal with those on the list
You also have the option of using blocklists created by others, such as this anti-crypto/NFT list or this anti-MAGA list. When you’re using lists made by others, be sure to take a moment to verify that all accounts in the list are worth blocking. Sometimes, unrelated accounts can be a part of large blocklists, so it’s worth taking a minute to check. If you decide you’re done with a block list, even one of your own, you can unsubscribe at any time from your moderation lists page.
Control who can reply to your posts
Credit: Pranay Parab
When you’re writing a post (or even after you’ve posted), you can change who can reply to and quote your post. Tap the Anybody can interact button before posting to change your post’s interaction settings, or after you’ve posted, tap the three-dots icon in the post’s bottom-right corner and select Edit interaction settings to do the same.
Detach your post from a quote
Credit: Bluesky
If someone has quoted your post, you can detach your post from their response. You can do this by clicking the three-dots button next to the quote post and selecting Detach quote. Their post will remain intact, but your quote will be removed from it.
Hide replies to your post
Credit: Bluesky
Bluesky allows you to hide specific replies to your posts. When someone sends a toxic reply to your post, just click the three-dots button next to their post and select Hide reply for everyone. This will push their reply behind a Hidden Replies button and make it less accessible to others.
Remove yourself from starter packs
Starter packs are a great way to find and follow interesting accounts on Bluesky. However, if you get added to a starter pack that you’d rather not be associated with, you can remove yourself from it by blocking the starter pack’s creator. Their profile will be linked just below the starter pack’s name, so you’ll just need to go to that account, click the three-dots icon to the right of the Follow button, and select Block account.
Reduce notification spam
Credit: Bluesky
If a post goes viral and you don’t want to be inundated with notifications, you can use a one-click method to stop the deluge. Go to the Notifications tab (hit the bell icon) and click the gear icon in the top-right corner. Then, check Enable priority notifications. This will limit your notifications to people you follow.
Hide posts from logged-out users
Credit: Pranay Parab
To keep people from seeing your posts without logging in to Bluesky, go to Bluesky’s privacy settings page (under Settings > Privacy and security). Enable the option labelled Discourage apps from showing my account to logged out users. This will hide your posts from those using Bluesky’s official app and website, but third-party apps may not honor this request.
Configure Bluesky’s Moderation Service to your liking
Credit: Pranay Parab
By default, you’re subscribed to the Bluesky Moderation Service, which comes with a bunch of default filters. Luckily, you can tune these to reduce harassment even further. Go to the Bluesky moderation service profile (under Settings > Moderation > Advanced > Bluesky Moderation Service) and you’ll see a whole bunch of content preferences. Go through each option to adjust it to your liking.
