Bluesky, the open source social networking service that started as an internal twitter project, has gained a key feature as it looks to compete with x and Threads. The service finally added capabilities more than a year after starting to add new users.
Direct messages are now available on both the Bluesky app and website, the company announced in a . The default setting allows users to receive messages from people they follow, although the setting can be adjusted to receive messages from “everyone” or “no one.” For now, it looks like DMs on Bluesky are pretty basic and only support person-to-person text chats, but the company says it plans to add support for multimedia and group messaging, as well as end-to-end encryption “in the future.” line.”
Until then, the company notes that it will be able to access users' messages in some situations when it is “absolutely necessary,” such as an investigation into spam or harassment. “In rare cases, Bluesky's moderation team may need to open your direct messages to investigate broader patterns of abuse, such as spam or coordinated harassment,” Bluesky says in a blog post. “This would only be done when absolutely necessary to keep Bluesky safe. Access is extremely limited and tracked internally.”
So like most other social platforms, Bluesky direct messages are probably not an ideal space for sharing sensitive information. But the addition of messaging will likely be good news for users hoping to make more connections on the service and have conversations out of public view.
