Bluesky says it has hit 40M users and plans to launch “dislikes” in beta to tailor content rankings and reply rankings
techcrunch.com/2025/10/31/b... Dorte Hummelshøj / @dortehummelshoj : No thanks, @bsky.app! — We don't want that! We are adults, and we are able to mute or block what we don't want to see, so no censorship, please! — We don't need a ‘dislike-button’! António / @akwyz.com : I use the web since the 1990s. The worst phase was hyper-personalized content, which trapped users in echo chambers, fostering intolerance through peer reinforcement & lack of diversity. Now, Bluesky is pushing this further with a dislike button to personalize feeds—when I could simply ignore a post Paul Frazee / @pfrazee.com : The ideas in this project are largely about using the social graph to make for better replies. Novel idea for a social network. — The “Followers only” replies setting works for a reason! We didn't want to make that the only option, but if we can at least move in that direction it could help Paul Rietschka / @prietschka : This platform will be destroyed from within. — Dislikes will be used as a tool of harassment on here, and not by the “usual suspects” one imagines: think roving bands of psychopath Karens enforcing doctrinal purity. — Imagine Gilead, but populated with Nextdoor Karens. [embedded post] @jauntywk : Personally I think it's super important to be able to signal dislikes. Social networking ought let us express our preferences & I don't see why preferences against shouldn't also be captureable. @bsky.app : 4️⃣0️⃣ [image] @figgityfigs : So like I know @starshine.bsky.social has been saying Reddit is an ok model for social media, and I'm not 100% opposed to this, but I also wonder how they would deal with big accounts weaponizing dislikes against disfavored targets. [embedded post] Josh Hutchinson / @joshhutchinson : Welcome to the Thunderdome [embedded post] Eileen Clancy / @clancyny : Sounds potentially promising. — I hope there are useful mechanisms for giving feedback. Most of the time, feedback seems = yelling at Bluesky engineers or charming them. — I don't need to have a conversation. But it'd be nice to know if there's at least a way to send a message. (Not dog piling.) … @garlicbuffalo.gobirds.biz : there's not really anything in the article that I disagree with per se, but it doesn't explicitly say that they're hiding bad replies (which they have been doing!) it's also weird to make a change like that and then announce it *after* the fact [embedded post] @shengokai.blacksky.app : But also, conversations on here will NEVER feel like conversations irl, nor should they. The conversations we have here are mediated by the affordances of the platform which means they develop their own conversational norms, communicative structures, and modes of affective circulation. @shengokai.blacksky.app : That is, because the conversations on this platform are mediated through interaction with the platform, the “feel” of the conversation will always be distinct from the “feel” of an irl conversation, and no amount of algorithmic manipulation will ensure parity in “feel” between the two. @danglinghemmie : ❌ getting rid of bots — ✅ muting friends who reply to you using a naughty word [embedded post] Norm Charlatan / @normcharlatan : The best way to improve reply quality is to post vigorously about how your replies are terrible and if your followers don't up their game, you will have to take your talents to LinkedIn. [embedded post] Paul Frazee / @pfrazee.com : We really are anti torment nexus. You can't get rid of all the torment but, you know, you gotta put in some hours to fight it [embedded post] @bsky.app : Threads on Bluesky should feel more like conversations you'd have IRL. — We're testing new systems to improve reply quality. See what's coming: bsky.social/about/blog/1... Forums: r/BlueskySocial : Bluesky hits 40 million users, introduces ‘dislikes’ beta | TechCrunch BeauHD / Slashdot : Bluesky Hits 40 Million Users, Introduces ‘Dislikes’ Beta See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Bluesky’s growth has repeatedly been tied to demand for alternatives to incumbent social networks, including a surge in new sign-ups after X’s proposed block changes. Its earlier community-led moderation and reply-control proposals positioned user safety and conversation management as core product choices.
At 40 million users, Bluesky is testing whether explicit negative feedback can improve ranking without undermining the user-control expectations that helped distinguish the service.
First-order effects
- Beta participants will be able to signal unwanted posts, giving Bluesky an additional input for content and reply rankings.
- Bluesky must assess user concerns that dislikes could be used for harassment or narrow what people see before extending the feature beyond beta.
Second-order effects
- Ranking quality will increasingly depend on how Bluesky balances dislike signals with existing moderation and user controls; a poor balance could damage trust in feed and reply visibility.
- The test puts Bluesky closer to the feed-customization contest in which Threads was already testing default For You, Following, and custom feeds, raising the value of transparent ranking controls.
Third-order effects
- If adopted, dislikes would further merge moderation choices with recommendation systems: platform governance would shape not only what is removed, but what is surfaced.
- The broader outcome remains uncertain: explicit negative-feedback tools can improve relevance, but their legitimacy will depend on safeguards against coordinated misuse and opaque ranking changes.
The trend: Social platforms are moving from one-size-fits-all feeds toward ranking systems that combine user preference signals with safety and conversation-quality controls.