Bluesky Adds Private Bookmarks

Social networking startup Bluesky is rolling retired 1 of users’ astir in-demand features — no, not an edit button! — bookmarks.

The institution connected Monday announced nan caller addition, which it calls Saved Posts. The characteristic is accessible done a caller bookmark icon underneath each post, adjacent to nan bosom for favoriting.

Your saved posts tin past beryllium viewed astatine immoderate clip from nan caller “Saved” conception successful nan app’s main navigation.

While it whitethorn look redundant to person some likes and bookmarks connected a societal app since some connection a measurement to people a station to beryllium referenced later, bookmarks connection a backstage replacement to nan “like.” On Bluesky, your relationship and its associated information are public, which intends your likes are besides public. That doesn’t activity for everyone, arsenic immoderate things you prevention are personal, aliases simply aren’t nan types of things you want to publically advertise.

Journalists, for example, whitethorn prevention posts they purpose to reference later, but don’t needfully want to broadcast that they’ve conscionable started looking into something, which could induce unwanted attention. Others whitethorn simply want to bookmark their favourite big content.

On X, Elon Musk realized that nan nationalist quality of likes could really alteration engagement, which prompted nan institution last twelvemonth to hide users’ likes. According to X labor astatine nan time, nationalist likes could incentivize nan incorrect behavior, arsenic group could consciousness discouraged from liking contented that whitethorn beryllium “edgy,” aliases to protect their nationalist image, they said.

The AT Protocol, which powers Bluesky and different smaller societal apps, doesn’t yet support backstage data, however, truthful location isn’t a measurement to hide users’ likes. Instead, nan institution built a measurement to save a user’s bookmarks off-protocol for nan clip being, which allows them to beryllium private, akin to Bluesky’s DMs (private messages). If and erstwhile nan protocol evolves to support backstage data, things could change.

In nan meantime, nan summation of saved posts connected Bluesky could promote users to prosecute much pinch contented connected nan platform, while besides offering a measurement to look backmost astatine a curated postulation of only posts you want to reference later, alternatively than everything you casually liked arsenic you scrolled your feeds. It will besides connection an replacement to replying to posts pinch that reddish pushpin emoji, arsenic galore Bluesky users do now arsenic a workaround for redeeming posts they want to return to. (There’s moreover a nice small migration tool for those who utilized this method.)

The summation follows different caller update for nan Bluesky app, which rolled retired only days ago, offering a fastener that now offers some photograph and video uploads, devices to supply feedback to civilization provender creators, and a measurement to adhd group to a Starter Park (a battalion of recommended group to follow, which anyone tin create).