Let’s be real – everyone and their mom is jumping ship to Bluesky these days, and honestly? We get it. While Twitter is doing… whatever the hell it’s been doing lately, Bluesky has been quietly building something that actually makes sense when it comes to handling adult messages and imagery. No pearl-clutching, no drama – just features that let you decide what you want to see, and how to best avoid any inevitable online hate.
Before jumping in, I do want to point out that everything on Bluesky (with the exception of ‘Chats’) are public, and there’s no option for a protected or ‘hidden’ account. There are however, a great set of features to put you in control of your experience, just treat every post you make as public to the whole world, and you should be fine.
Bluesky is clearly trying to strike that sweet spot between “do whatever floats your boat” and “don’t be a jerk about it.” Importantly, the platform puts the control where it matters most – with us, the users. Here’s a quick rundown for everything you need to know about managing adult content on your new Bluesky account.
Content controls and filtering
Content labeling
Bluesky has made this straightforward with multiple options to help you be considerate and clear about what you’re sharing, particularly if its adult or graphic in nature.
First up, there’s a handy warning button when you’re posting an image or video. Just hit new post and look for the ‘labels’ button at the bottom – click it to flag your post as is appropriate. It doesn’t currently show up until you add some media though.
Before posting, you can check your visibility settings in the bottom toolbar. Because nobody likes surprises (well, some do, but you get the idea).
Content filters
Now for the flip side – controlling what shows up in your feed:
Head over to Settings > Moderation > Content Filters, and you’ll find everything you need. It’s straightforward – you’ve got three main ways to handle each content type: Adult, Sexually Suggestive, Graphic Media and Non-sexual Nudity.
- “Show” if you’re comfortable with whatever comes your way
- “Hide” if you want to keep things squeaky clean
- “Warn” if you’re somewhere in the middle and want to pick exactly what kinds of content you’re comfortable with seeing, as it appears in your feed
If you want more granular control over other potentially upsetting or unwanted types of content, click the Bluesky Moderation Service option under Advanced beneath the content filters section. You’ll be taken to a profile page where you can enable or dispable (or warn) for a whole load more categories.
Feed management
Customizing your feed will be a hugely useful feature once you get into it, but it’s still a bit technical currently for most users.
The default feed is pretty good – it automatically filters content based on your settings, and adding others’ feeds is simple, just hit the “+” in the feeds tab and add whatever interests you. It’s full of ready-made feeds that other people have put together. Some of them are absolute gold.
If you want to go a bit deeper with publishing your own algorithmic feed, then you can follow the official Bluesky instructions on Github.
Blocking and muting
Look, we’ve all been there – sometimes you need to distance yourself from certain accounts. It’s OK.
Need the full stop option? Block them. Head to their profile, hit those three dots, and select to block. Done – they’re gone. If you just need a break, the mute button’s your friend. Same place, less permanent.
It’s worth you knowing up-front that blocks are public on Bluesky, for these reasons. The company says it’s actively researching other ways to implement blocks on a federated public network, but for now, they’re public.
The up-side of this is that there’s a Moderation lists option that lets you easily create and share block lists with friends, thus keeping everyone safe. You can find these in Settings > Moderation tools > Moderation lists.
Quote post control
Ever had one of your posts end up in a corner of Bluesky you never intended? Now you’ve got visibility on every quote post, and if someone’s misusing your content, you can remove it by detaching the originally quoted post. It’s a smart feature that helps avoid drama.
Hidden replies
Sometimes people can’t help being assholes in the comments. Now you can tuck those annoying replies behind a Hidden replies screen. They’re still there if anyone’s curious enough to look, but they won’t be disrupting everyone else’s day. Thread authors can choose whether to hide a reply just for themself, or for everyone.
Smarter feed management
Here’s something cool—your Following feed only shows replies between people you actually follow. It keeps your conversations with your real community, not random people trying to grab attention. It makes everything feel a bit more like home, you know? A bit like… well, you know, the other place before it fell off a cliff.
Priority notifications
Built up a decent following? You can now filter your notifications to just show the people you care most about. When your post starts getting traction, you’ll be glad you set this up.
Why all this matters
Social media companies, traditionally, aren’t good friends with anything in the ‘adult’ realm. Mostly, that’s down to commercial incentives to keep advertisers happy, and sometimes its a deliberate lack of harassment controls. Bluesky, however, has built these tools so we can all share space without stepping on each other’s toes. It’s kind of beautiful, really—you get to be you, I get to be me, and we’ve got all these neat little controls to make sure everyone’s comfortable.
Final tips for adult content creators
Here’s how to keep things respectful:
- Use content warnings. Seriously. It takes two seconds, and everyone appreciates it.
- Be clear about what you’re posting. The “Add Label” feature is there for a reason.
- Put it in your bio. Let people know what they’re getting into when they follow you.
- Keep an eye on those community guidelines. They’re there for good reason.
- Maybe consider separate accounts if you’re posting different types of content. It’s not required, but it can make life easier.
And if you found this post useful, please follow us and share it (on Bluesky, naturally).
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