The Best Tools to Fight Trolls on Bluesky
Good moderation tools are key to building a successful social media website, and the developers behind growing X (formerly Twitter) competitor Bluesky seem to understand this. In particular, the Bluesky development team has spent a significant amount of time creating robust anti-harassment features. If you’re surrounded by a bunch of trolls or someone is running a targeted harassment campaign against you, you’ll have a much easier time dodging their attacks and blocking them from oblivion in Bluesky so you can actually enjoy social media. again . Here are some of my favorite Bluesky anti-harassment tools.
Create block or mute lists
Bluesky allows you to create a list of accounts and block them all at once. Once you’ve created the list, you can continue to add accounts to it to automatically block them. This is an easy way to block accounts that are trolling, spamming, or harassing. Start by going to Bluesky’s moderation lists settings page (under Settings > Moderation > Moderation Lists ) and selecting the “Create” button in the top right corner. Once you’ve created your list, click the Follow button at the top and select Disable Accounts or Block Accounts , depending on how you want to deal with those on the list.
You also have the option of using blacklists created by others, such as this anti-crypto/NFT list or this anti-MAGA list . When you use lists created by others, be sure to take the time to ensure that all accounts on the list deserve to be blocked. Sometimes unlinked accounts can be on large blacklists, so it’s worth taking a minute to check. If you decide you’re done with a blacklist, even if it’s your own, you can unsubscribe at any time on the moderation lists page.
Control who can reply to your messages
When you write a post (or even after you’ve posted it), you can change who can reply to and quote your post. Tap the Anyone Can Engage button before posting to change your post’s engagement settings, or after posting, tap the three dots icon in the bottom right corner of the post and select Edit Engagement Settings to do the same.
Separate your post from your quote
If someone has quoted your message, you can separate your message from the reply. You can do this by clicking the three-dot button next to the post with the quote and selecting Unlink Quote . Their post will remain untouched, but your quote from it will be removed.
Hide replies to your message
Bluesky allows you to hide specific replies to your messages. When someone sends a toxic reply to your message, simply click the three-dot button next to their message and select Hide Reply to Everyone . This will move their answer behind the Hidden Replies button and make it less visible to others.
Remove yourself from starter packs
Starter packs are a great way to find and follow interesting Bluesky accounts . However, if you are added to a starter pack that you do not want to be associated with, you can remove yourself from it by blocking the creator of the starter pack. Their profile will be linked just below the starter pack 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
If a message goes viral and you don’t want to be bombarded with notifications, you can stop the thread with one click. Go to the Notifications tab (click the bell icon) and click the gear icon in the top right corner. Then check the Enable priority notifications checkbox. This will limit your notifications to people you follow.
Hide messages from logged out users
To prevent people from seeing your posts without logging into Bluesky, go to Bluesky’s privacy settings page (under Settings > Privacy & Security ). Turn on the Prevent apps from showing my account to logged out users option. This will hide your messages from those using the official Bluesky app and website, but third-party apps may not honor this request.
Customize Bluesky’s moderation service to your liking
By default, you are subscribed to Bluesky’s moderation service, which includes many filters by default. Luckily, you can customize them to further reduce harassment. Go to your Bluesky Moderation Service profile (under Settings > Moderation > Advanced > Bluesky Moderation Service ) and you’ll see a range of content settings. Review each option to customize it to your liking.