Bluesky, the decentralized social network born from Twitter’s open-source ambitions, just announced it has surpassed 40 million users, and it’s marking the milestone with a bold experiment: a “dislikes” button.
But unlike the negative connotations of the feature elsewhere, Bluesky’s version isn’t about public shaming or scorekeeping. Instead, the company says it’s a personalization tool designed to fine-tune what users see in their feeds.
When someone “dislikes” a post, that signal won’t be public, it will simply teach the system to show them less of that kind of content. The goal: cleaner, more relevant feeds and better conversations. The new signal will influence not only the Discover feed, but also reply rankings, helping to surface responses from people users actually care to engage with.
Building “Social Neighborhoods”
Alongside the “dislikes” beta, Bluesky is also testing a system that maps out what it calls “social neighborhoods.” These represent clusters of users who often interact and reply to one another, essentially, digital communities within the larger network.
Replies and discussions from people closer to your neighborhood will be prioritized, aiming to make the platform feel more familiar and less chaotic. It’s an approach that could solve one of Threads’ biggest weaknesses, feeds filled with random, disconnected replies that appear “from nowhere and lead to nowhere,” as writer Max Read once described it.
Cleaner, Kinder Conversations
The latest Bluesky update also includes several new conversation-control tools and design tweaks:
- Improved toxic comment detection that downranks spammy, off-topic, or bad-faith replies in threads, search results, and notifications.
- A reworked Reply button that now opens the full thread before letting users respond, encouraging more thoughtful participation and reducing redundant comments.
- A clearer interface for reply settings, making it easier to control who can respond to your posts.
Together, these changes aim to make Bluesky a place for more “fun, genuine, and respectful exchanges,” according to the company, a statement that comes after recent moderation debates on the platform.
Rather than policing users directly, Bluesky is doubling down on user-driven moderation. Tools like block lists, content filters, muted words, and third-party moderation services give users granular control over their experience. The platform even lets users detach quote posts, discouraging the kind of “dunking” culture that still defines X.
Why It Matters
While other platforms, especially X and Threads, struggle to balance openness with civility, Bluesky’s latest updates suggest a more community-centric path forward: decentralized, but still curated. With 40 million users and growing, the platform is betting that giving people better tools to shape their own social environment will lead to something increasingly rare online: conversations that actually feel human.