It’s easy to forget that there’s another social network besides Threads for those tired of Elon Musk’s very generic X platform. BlueSky is a great alternative, as it definitely “feels” like Twitter. However, it lacks some of the features that made Twitter such an internet hotspot back in the day. Well, we just got a big feature. The company just announced that users can now upload video content.
There are a few caveats. First, videos must be under one minute. This is a huge barrier for almost every content other than TikTok-style shorts. As a comparison, Meta’s Threads allows up to five minutes of video. Also, videos autoplay by default, although this can be handled in the settings. Finally, there’s a strict limit of 25 videos per user per day, although the company says it may change this in the future.
The platform supports most major video file types, including .mp4, .mpeg, .webm, and .mov files. Users can also attach subtitles to each video, which is a nice little bonus. There are some security measures in place to protect against “spam and abuse.” Only users who have verified their email address can upload videos and illegal content will be “purged” from the infrastructure. There’s also a way to submit reports to the moderation team. Additionally, each video will be scanned for CSAM by Hive and Thorn.
Update to version 1.91 of the mobile app to get started, though it also works through the desktop client. Not every user will be able to access this feature right away, as version 1.91 will be rolled out gradually to “ensure a seamless experience.”
BlueSky recently added Direct Messages to the mix, which is something Threads doesn’t have. The platform may be in third place compared to X and Threads, but it’s definitely growing. A huge number of Brazilian users recently joined the social media site after X was banned in the country.
TikTok may be back (somewhat) now, but that’s not stopping other social media platforms from dabbling in its business. Bluesky is the latest, introducing a TikTok-like vertical video feature on mobile called Trending Videos, which is now available in the Explore tab, the company announced in a post on its app.
“We had to get in on the video action too – Bluesky now has custom feeds for videos! Just like any other feed, you can choose to pin these [to your home screen] or not. It’s your job to customize Bluesky,” the company wrote.
I was able to access this feature by tapping “Search” on my Android phone. In that screen, a “Trending Videos (Beta)” section appeared prominently, and clicking “See More” brought up a number of short videos (many imported from TikTok). Swiping up shows a number of new videos, like TikTok, though Bluesky didn’t say what algorithm it uses to suggest them. If you don’t see the feature at first, just restart the app, Bluesky suggests.