Twitter alternative Bluesky now lets you send DMs
Bluesky is slowly adding features that other platforms have had for years
📧 Bluesky will now let users send direct messages to each other
🖼 It’s also working on adding support for images and videos
🆚 Bluesky is a Twitter, or X, alternative
👋 Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey recently quit the Bluesky board
If you’ve been curious how the Twitter alternative Bluesky is doing, the app now lets you send direct messages, or DMs, to other users.
It’s a feature that practically every social media site allows, but Bluesky is still a work in progress. The company is working on letting users send messages containing images and videos, but for now, only text is supported.
To send a DM on Bluesky, select the chat icon at the bottom of your screen on mobile or click the chat bubble in your sidebar when using the app on your desktop. Once you’ve created a new chat, find the user you’d like to message and hit send.
Be careful what you share, however. DMs aren’t end-to-end encrypted yet, but like many elements of the social app, the company is working to support the feature in the future.
If you’d prefer to only receive DMs from users you follow, you’ll need to head into the settings menu and choose “Users I follow” instead of the default “Everyone”. You can also select “No one” if you don’t want to receive any direct messages.
Thankfully, if you do receive any unwanted DMs, you can report and block users from within your messages. You may have to grant access to Bluesky’s moderation team if you’re experiencing persistent abuse, but the company says “access is extremely limited and tracked internally.” Whether or not you’re comfortable with that is up to you.
In other Bluesky news, the co-founder of Twitter and Bluesky board member Jack Dorsey recently resigned. In a statement on Bluesky, the company said: “We sincerely thank Jack for his help funding and initiating the bluesky project. Today, Bluesky is thriving as an open source social network running on atproto, the decentralized protocol we have built. With Jack’s departure, we are searching for a new board member for the Bluesky public benefit company who shares our commitment to building a social network that puts people in control of their experience. More to come!”
Perhaps more concerning for Bluesky, was Jack’s post on X. Dorsey said, “Don’t depend on corporations to grant you rights. Defend them yourself using freedom technology. (You’re on one).”
Dorsey received a backlash from X users, who accused the Twitter co-founder of being a hypocrite due to how Twitter previously handled censorship. “The king of censorship has spoken,” one user wrote. “Zero self-awareness.”
Dorsey responded to all of the criticisms with a hugging emoji.
Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.