An academic’s guide to Bluesky
With many HE professionals making the switch to Bluesky, here are the steps you need to take to get started
As an educator, I have been using X for more than a decade to help me build student engagement and course communities. But recent changes and concerns have made me (and others) rethink the platform.
Luckily, there is now Bluesky, the new decentralised microblogging site which promises a safer and more positive space. With 27 million users and counting, it’s no surprise that Bluesky is gaining incredible momentum, particularly within the academic community. So, if you’re an academic who has been contemplating using Bluesky, this resource is for you.
Step 1: Set up a friendly profile (which isn’t all about work)
As Rose Wang, the COO of Bluesky, recently said in an interview with Buffer: “There are many ways to be successful on Bluesky, but the main thing is bringing authenticity.” This starts with setting up a profile, including a photo, bio and banner, that showcases what you do, ideally without focusing solely on work. For instance, I like Damian’s banner which humanises his brand while complementing his professor bio. Having a consistent look and feel across platforms is important, but you can get a little more creative on Bluesky than on, say, LinkedIn.
Pro tip: If you have your own domain, you can use it as your Bluesky handle. This can be a great branding element but it could also unlock future experiences, such as clickability (as Rose alluded to in her Buffer interview). Using this instructional video by Matthew Rathbun, it took me less than 10 minutes to change my Bluesky handle from the generic @WahibaChair.bsky.social to @WahibaChair.com.
You can navigate to your account under “settings”. There, you will find a section to change your handle if you have your own domain. Bluesky will provide you with domain name system (DNS) settings to update your host account and verify your domain.
Step 2: Find and build your audience (from within and outside of Bluesky)
If you’ve used X before, you can migrate your followers by using the Sky Follower Bridge Chrome extension. You will then have the option to follow them all or selectively on Bluesky.
Since I have more than 30K followers on X, I have been slowly curating which users I would like to follow on Bluesky. The process can take a while, but you can do it in stages. You can also ask your LinkedIn connections whether or not they have joined Bluesky.
The best way to start following users aligned with your personal or professional interests is to explore starter packs. These are curated lists of accounts, similar to X’s public lists. This Bluesky directory has more than 220,000 starter packs to choose from. For instance, “higher education” has a growing list of more than 770 starter packs. If you would like to be added to some of these starter packs, you can ask the creator/s.
Pro tip: Can’t find what you’re looking for? You could consider creating your own starter pack. It’s easy and takes only a few minutes. Navigate to your profile and click “starter packs”, then click “Create”. When sharing your starter pack, you can generate more engagement by tagging the accounts you included and asking who else should be added.
- Time to switch? A university’s guide to Bluesky
- It’s time: how to get your department off X
- Four ways to cultivate an engaged social media community
Step 3: Listen and curate content using feeds
The best way to learn Bluesky is to listen to what others are saying in your niche. In addition to starter packs, you can also follow feeds based on your interests. These are curated posts based on topics, hashtags and keywords.
If you navigate to “#feeds” under your profile, you can search for topics and pin them for easy access. I would recommend the #EduSky and #AcademicSky feeds for higher education but note that #EduSky also includes K-12 content. Once you add these feeds, they will appear as a tab under “Home”.
You can then engage with posts that may be interesting or relevant by replying or quoting, like what I did here with Jen. As that channel grows, users are hungry for genuine interactions.
Step 4: Create posts around your (and your audience’s) interests
To help onboard new followers, you could share a quick “hello” post about what brings you to Bluesky, what your interests are and what kind of content you will share. You could then pin this post to your profile, like what Damian did here.
Once you get more comfortable with the platform, you could start posting about your teaching, subject matter expertise, research areas, speaking engagements, personal interests and much more. To make your posts more engaging, you can tag relevant accounts, add compelling visuals and ask your audience a question. You could also include the #EduSky and #AcademicSky hashtags where appropriate to help others discover your content.
Pro tip: While there is no scheduling feature on the platform (yet), you could use Buffer, one of Bluesky’s earlier partners, to help you schedule posts.
Step 5: Engage. Experiment. Learn.
The content you create and curate will help you generate organic engagement, which is what the platform is all about. While Bluesky still feels like a cosy corner in which to build communities, this is the perfect time to experiment and make new connections. This resource will hopefully help you get started, but you can learn more about Bluesky on the Buffer site.
Have you been experimenting with Bluesky? Do you have any tips we should add to this list?
Wahiba Chair is an assistant professor at University Canada West.
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