Does Bluesky Have an Algorithm? What Creators Need to Know

The Short Answer

Bluesky does not have a single central algorithm that determines what you see. Your default home feed is chronological — posts from accounts you follow, in order of when they were posted.

But Bluesky has something more interesting: a marketplace of custom feeds that anyone can build and subscribe to.

How Custom Feeds Work

Bluesky lets developers and creators build custom feed algorithms and publish them to a feed marketplace. Any user can subscribe to any feed. Some popular categories of custom feeds:

This is genuinely different from every other major platform. On Twitter/X, the algorithm is a black box built to maximize engagement for the platform's ad revenue. On Bluesky, the algorithms are transparent, open-source, and built by the community.

What This Means for Creators

For creators trying to grow on Bluesky, the implications are:

**1. Timing still matters.** Your chronological home feed means when you post determines when your existing followers see it. Post when your audience is online.

**2. Topic feeds are your discovery engine.** Getting your posts picked up by popular topic feeds drives exposure to new audiences. This comes from using relevant hashtags and posting content that matches the feed's criteria.

**3. Interaction is more impactful than on algorithmic platforms.** When someone quote-posts or replies to your content, all their followers see it — and Bluesky's culture rewards substantive replies. Engaging with others gets you visibility.

**4. Consistency compounds.** Because there's no algorithm amplifying occasional viral posts, consistent posting to a growing audience compounds more predictably than sporadic viral moments.

The Hashtag Connection

Custom feeds often use hashtag and keyword matching to surface content. On other platforms, hashtags have declining importance. On Bluesky, they're still the primary way your posts get picked up by topic feeds and discovered by non-followers.

Use 1-3 relevant hashtags per post. The Bluesky community doesn't use 10-20 hashtags the way Instagram creators sometimes do — that looks spammy here. One or two precise, relevant tags is the norm.

Scheduling for a Chronological Feed

Timing matters more on Bluesky than on feed-based platforms. Using a scheduler to post at specific optimal times — rather than whenever you happen to open the app — is one of the easiest wins available.

SocialMate lets you schedule Bluesky posts with specific publish times, alongside your other platforms. Free, no credit card.

[Start scheduling your Bluesky posts for free](/signup).