Bluesky, a social network with over 34 million users, is rolling out a new update that includes chat reactions in its direct messaging feature and a revamped search page now called “Explore.”
The new chat reactions feature allows users to react to direct messages with emojis, similar to the feature available on X since 2020. Users can click on the emoji button next to a message to add a reaction, selecting from a default set of common emojis or choosing any other emoji from a larger selection by clicking on the three-dot menu.
The Explore page is designed to help users discover trending content on Bluesky. The page highlights trends with labels like “New” or “Hot” and timestamps, such as “5h ago,” indicating when they began trending. Current trends include topics like Trump’s tariffs and their impact, as well as popular communities on Bluesky, like the readers on BookSky.
The Explore page also allows users to personalize the content shown to them by entering their own interests. It suggests accounts to follow within various categories, including Art, Sports, Music, Comics, Politics, Science, News, Animals, Books, and Video Games. Additionally, the page features “Starter Packs,” curated lists of users that newcomers can follow with a single click, and suggests popular custom feeds, such as NFL+, which connects users to discussions about American football on Bluesky.
Bluesky CTO Paul Frazee credited the company’s recent hire, Darrin Loeliger, for the updated Explore page, acknowledging that Loeliger “showed the team the upside of hiring a designer.” These updates are aimed at making Bluesky more appealing to users familiar with X, providing them with similar tools for engagement and content discovery.
The new features are part of Bluesky’s effort to enhance user experience and engagement. By incorporating chat reactions and a more robust content discovery feature, Bluesky is attempting to attract and retain users, particularly those transitioning from other platforms like X.
