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Getting Started on BlueSky: A Guide for Arts and Theatre Creatives

Social media is undergoing a transformation, and BlueSky has emerged as a refreshing alternative for creatives in the arts and theatre world. Built on decentralization (ie the platform does not control what you see in your feeds – you do), and prioritizing authentic connections, BlueSky offers a perfect space for fostering meaningful interactions with artists, performers, and arts lovers alike.

This guide will walk you through setting up your BlueSky presence, optimizing your experience, and making the most of this new platform.

 

Topics Covered

  1. Introduction
  2. Signing Up
  3. Setting Up Your Profile
  4. Finding People to Follow
  5. Exploring Feeds
  6. Customizing Settings for Accessibility and Creativity
  7. Joining the Conversation
  8. Advanced: Using Your Domain as Your Handle
  9. Other Quirks & Useful Tips

1. Introduction

BlueSky is more than just another social platform; it’s a space where communities thrive, conversations flow, and creativity takes centre stage. If you’ve been disillusioned with other social platforms, this is your chance to start fresh. For arts and theatre professionals, BlueSky is especially valuable:

  • Promote Your Work: Share details of your performances, exhibitions, or behind-the-scenes snippets.
  • Network with Creatives: Connect with like-minded individuals in a less algorithm-heavy environment.
  • Create Your Space: Customize your experience with feeds that cater to your specific interests.

2. Signing Up

BlueSky is now open to everyone! Setting up an account is straightforward:

  • Web Access: Go to BlueSky’s website and click Sign Up.
  • Mobile Apps: Download the app for iOS or Android (available in the Play Store).
  • Username: Choose a handle that reflects your identity or creative brand (e.g., @BathArts or @CreativeLighting).

Once your account is created, you’re ready to customize your profile.

3. Setting Up Your Profile

Why It Matters: A well-crafted profile makes you approachable and credible to potential followers.

Steps:

  1. Profile Picture: Use a professional headshot, a logo, or something that represents your artistic style.
  2. Bio: Write a short, engaging bio. Include your profession, location, and interests. Example:
    “Lighting designer specializing in immersive theatre productions. Passionate about storytelling through light and sound. Based in Bath.”
  3. Header Image: Add a banner image, such as a stage shot, artwork, or a promotional image for your project.
  4. Contact Info: Include links to your website, portfolio, or other social media.

4. Finding People to Follow

Starting from scratch can feel daunting, but BlueSky makes it easier to rebuild your network:

  • Search for Creatives: Use hashtags like #Theatre, #Art, #UKCreatives, or regional tags like #BathTheatre.
  • Starter Packs: Look for curated lists of accounts to follow. These packs allow you to add up to 50 users with a single click.
  • BlueSky Directory: Why not pop over to the BlueSky directory where you can search for starter packs that other people have created and find people to follow from there.
  • Migrating from Twitter: If you’re coming from Twitter, tools like the Sky Follower Bridge browser extension can help find users whose Twitter bios mention BlueSky.
  • Account Suggestions: The “Search” tab offers personalized recommendations based on the accounts you follow.

5. Exploring Feeds

BlueSky’s feed system is its most unique feature. Unlike traditional social platforms, BlueSky lets users create or subscribe to custom feeds powered by unique algorithms. There are a few add-in apps that allow you to customise and create your own feeds (these are a tiny bit complicated to use for the average person at the moment but I’ll try and add walk throughs when I find time).

Recommended Feeds for Creatives:

These lists will carry on growing over the next few weeks and months and eventually you’ll either create your own or find ones that are most suited to you.

How to Subscribe:

  1. Navigate to the “Feeds” section on the app or web platform.
  2. Search for feeds like Theatre.
  3. Click Add to My Feeds or Pin to Home for easy access.

6. Customizing Settings for Accessibility and Creativity

BlueSky offers several features to make the experience tailored to your needs:

  • Alt Text for Images: Enable a setting to require alt text when posting, making your content more accessible.
  • Appearance Settings: Switch to dark mode if preferred.
  • Feed Preferences: Adjust how reposts, likes, and replies appear in your home feed.
  • Language Preferences: Filter posts by language.

7. Joining the Conversation

You’re set up—now what?

  • Introduce Yourself: Post a welcome message, including who you are and what you’re passionate about. Use hashtags like #Welcome or #TheatreLife etc
  • Engage Actively: Comment on posts, share your thoughts, and repost content you admire.
  • Promote Your Work: Post updates on upcoming performances, artwork, or collaborations.

💡 Remember: Interactions build connections. The more you engage, the more visible you’ll become to like-minded creatives.

8. Advanced: Using Your Domain as Your Handle

BlueSky supports using a custom domain as your handle (e.g., @yourname.com). This feature offers a unique way to verify your identity and stand out professionally. I’ll write a full guide with screenshots for this soon!

Steps:

  1. Purchase a domain name if you don’t already own one.
  2. Follow BlueSky’s tutorial on configuring DNS settings for your domain.
  3. Update your handle in the app to reflect your domain.

For more details, visit BlueSky’s Domain Handle Guide.

9. Advanced: Other Useful Tips & Quirks

Switching between multiple accounts

This sounds like something obvious but it’s not that easy to navigate when you aren’t familiar with the app. It’s much easier to do on the desktop version of the app than the mobile one at the moment.

UPDATE: 19.11.2024
BlueSky have just rolled out an update which means when you head to settings you now see the option to switch accounts. It’s a little more obvious to use now.

Desktop:

  1. Click on Settings on the left hand side
  2. This will bring up a list of other accounts you own
  3. Click on the account you want to switch to
  4. Congratulations you’ve now switched.

Mobile (iOS):

  1. Click on the home icon (looks like a house – bottom left)
  2. At the top of the page you’ll see a menu icon (three lines). Click on this.
  3. Go down to settings (the cog) and click it
  4. Choose the other account from the list and click it

Navigating the BlueSky Directory on mobile

Again navigating the BlueSky Directory on desktop is simple. It’s not quite as obvious on the mobile app.

Desktop:

  1. Navigate to the BlueSky Directory: https://blueskydirectory.com/starter-packs/all
  2. Search for the starter pack you want to follow
  3. Click on it. This opens the list in another tab.
  4. Top Right click “Follow All” (you will need to be logged in to BlueSky at the time) if you want to follow all people in that pack or scroll through to select and follow the users that you wish to follow.

Mobile:

Exactly the same as above but the BlueSky Directory opens in a pop out browser window on the app. Once you find the pack you want to follow click on it as before. This then open up that list in the background – so you’ll need to close the pop up browser window to see it. Other than that it operates the same way.

Sky Follower Bridge: A Simple Way to Reconnect

Switching to BlueSky from X can feel daunting when it comes to rebuilding your network. Sky Follower Bridge simplifies this by helping you identify and follow those who have moved to BlueSky.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Install the Extension
  2. Access Your Follower Lists on X
    • Log in to your X account. Go to your profile and then navigate to the list of accounts you follow or your followers. Whichever you want to search for and find. Then click on it. The list must be open to enable the tool to work.
  3. Run Sky Follower Bridge
    • Click on the extension in your browser’s toolbar. Log in with your BlueSky account username. DO NOT PUT YOUR PASSWORD IN HERE. Click the little arrow button to create an “App Password”. This will take you into BlueSky to create a password for this app to use which is different to your account password. NEVER input you account password anywhere other than whilst logging into the main account. Copy your newly created app password across. Re-open the extension and paste the password in. Then click run.
  4. Search for Matches
    • The extension searches for users based on:
      • Same handle on both platforms.
      • Same display name.
      • BlueSky handle mentioned in their X bio.
  5. Review and Follow
    • After the search, you’ll see a list of matches. You can:
      • Follow users individually for more control.
      • Use the “Follow All” option to rebuild your network faster.
  6. Repeat for Followers
    • Switch to your X follower list and repeat the process to reconnect with those following you.
  7. Blocking

You can also navigate to your blocked list and run the same extension. This will help you find people you have already blocked and reblock them.

Why Use Sky Follower Bridge?

The tool ensures you can locate your network with minimal effort, even if their BlueSky details aren’t obvious. While it may not capture everyone, most users tend to keep consistent identifiers across platforms. This significantly boosts your chances of recreating a vibrant feed on BlueSky​

If you’d like more technical details or troubleshooting tips, check out the Sky Follower Bridge developer notes.

Block Lists and how to use them

I haven’t had time to write this up yet but BlueSky has lots of really easy ways to block lots of people all at once. For example those that have certain words in their names or profiles.

Check out this guide below created by Brian Kirby for more info and I’ll update this again when I get a bit more time:

BLOCKING GUIDE

Feedback

This guide has been very quickly put together. I will try and add images and more step-by-step instructions. Is there anything missing? What more do you want to know? What else would be useful to either see a step-by-step guide for or to have a quick video walk through? Let me know and I’ll see what I can do to help.

Contact me

Or connect on BlueSky: @Lukejohnemmett.co.uk

or Theatre Bath: @theatrebath.co.uk

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