How to Get More Bluesky Followers

Growing your Bluesky following is less about a specific formula and more about a genuine connection, which is a welcome change. This guide skips the generic advice and focuses on practical, actionable strategies that help you build an authentic audience on the platform. We’ll cover everything from setting up your profile for success and creating content that sticks to engaging in a way that truly builds community.

Start with a Strong Foundation: Optimize Your Profile

Your profile is your digital handshake on Bluesky. It’s often the first thing people see and your best chance to make a good impression. Before you even think about content, make sure your profile clearly communicates who you are and why someone should follow you. An incomplete or confusing profile is a missed opportunity.

1. Choose a Recognizable Handle and Display Name

Your handle (e.g., @yourname.bsky.social) is your unique identifier. If possible, keep it consistent with your other social media accounts or your brand name. Your display name is what most people will see, so make it clear and memorable. You can use your real name, your company name, or a creative persona - just make sure it’s easy for people to find and remember.

• Good: A full name like "Maria Rodriguez" or a clear brand name like "The Indie Press."
• Could be better: Vague names like "Creative Person7" or a long string of numbers.

2. Write a Bio That Hooks and Informs

You have 256 characters to tell people what you're all about. Don't waste them. Your bio should quickly answer two questions: "Who are you?" and "What do you post about?" This helps people decide instantly if your content is relevant to them. Feel free to inject some personality, use emojis, and include a link if you have one.

Example Bio Breakdown:

"UX designer building accessible products ♿ | I skeet about design ethics, classic sci-fi, and my journey learning to bake sourdough 🍞 | He/Him | Link to my portfolio 👇"

• Identifies profession: "UX designer"
• Sets content expectations: "design ethics, classic sci-fi...sourdough"
• Adds personality and context: Emojis, pronouns.
• Includes a Call to Action: A link to their work.

3. Pick a Clear Profile Picture and Header Image

Your profile picture should be a clear shot of your face or your company logo. Avoid distant, blurry photos or overly busy images. People connect with faces, so a friendly headshot usually works best. Your header image is a larger space to express your personality or brand. You can use a photo of your workspace, artwork, a favorite landscape, or a simple graphic that complements your brand colors.

Understand the Unique Culture of Bluesky

Bluesky isn't just another legacy social media clone. It feels different because it is different. It was built with a more decentralized, user-driven ethos, and its community culture reflects that. Understanding this vibe is the most important part of fitting in and growing your presence organically.

The general atmosphere is more casual, conversational, and often more technical or niche-focused than mainstream platforms. People are there for discussion, not just consumption. Polished, corporate-style messaging often falls flat. The key is to be human, be curious, and participate in conversations as if you were in a communal space with interesting people.

Create High-Value "Skeets" That Resonate

Once your profile is set, it's time to start posting. A "skeet" (Bluesky's term for a post) is your primary tool for communication. To gain followers, your skeets need to provide value. Value can come in many forms: Being entertaining, being informative, being helpful, or being thought-provoking.

Establish Your Content Pillars

Don't try to be everything to everyone. Your content will be more effective if it revolves around two to four core topics, often called "content pillars." This helps build a dedicated audience because people know what to expect from you. If you’re a photographer, your pillars might be photography tips, gear reviews, and landscape photos. If you're a developer, they might be coding tutorials, industry news, and thoughts on AI. Having pillars keeps your content focused and attracts followers interested in your specific niche.

Ideas for Valuable Content:

• Go Deep with Threads: Use threads to break down complex topics into digestible chunks. A well-written thread can establish you as an authority on a subject. You could share a step-by-step process, tell a compelling story, or offer a deep-dive analysis.
• Ask Engaging Questions: The easiest way to start a conversation is to ask a question. Avoid simple yes/no questions. Instead, ask something that invites people to share their own experiences or opinions. For example, instead of "Do you like remote work?" ask "What’s one unexpected benefit you've found from working remotely?"
• Share Behind-the-Scenes Peeks: People love seeing the process. Show your messy desk, a project in progress, or share a challenge you're facing. This kind of content feels authentic and helps build a stronger connection with your audience.
• Post Helpful Resources: Did you find a great article, a useful tool, or an amazing tutorial? Share it with your followers. Becoming a trusted curator of valuable information in your niche is a fantastic way to grow.
• Use Visuals (and Alt Text): Posts with images or GIFs tend to get more engagement. But don't just post an image - accompany it with a thoughtful caption. And always, always use alt text. The Bluesky community values accessibility, and adding descriptive alt text for screen readers shows you care about making your content inclusive.

Authentic Engagement is Your Greatest Growth Hack

This is where the real work - and the real growth - happens. On Bluesky, you can’t just post and hope for the best. Growth comes from actively participating in the community. People are more likely to follow you after you’ve had a meaningful interaction with them.

Reply More Than You Post

A good rule of thumb, especially when you’re starting out, is to spend more time replying to others' posts than creating your own. Find people in your niche and add thoughtful comments to their conversations. A good reply adds value, a different perspective, or asks a follow-up question. This does two things: it gets your profile in front of the original poster’s audience and demonstrates that you are an active, engaged member of the community.

Quote Skeet to Add Your Own Spin

Instead of just reposting something, use the "Quote Skeet" feature. This allows you to share someone else's post while adding your own commentary. You can agree and expand on their point, offer a respectful counterargument, or connect their idea to something else. This turns a passive share into an active contribution to the conversation.

Follow People Intentionally

Don't just follow everyone hoping for a follow-back. Find and follow people who are leading conversations in your areas of interest. Read their content, engage with their posts, and learn from them. Building a curated feed of interesting people to interact with is the first step toward building your own interesting audience.

Tap Into Feeds to Find Your People

Perhaps one of Bluesky’s most powerful features is "Custom Feeds." These are user-created algorithmic timelines that gather posts about a specific topic. By participating in relevant feeds, you can amplify your reach far beyond your own followers.

What are Custom Feeds?

Imagine a Twitter timeline that only shows you posts about `webdev`, `book-lovers`, `sci-art`, or whatever niche topic you can think of. That’s a Custom Feed. Users create them to filter content based on keywords, hashtags, or specific user lists. It’s a way to cut through the noise and dive straight into the conversations that matter to you.

How to Use Feeds for Growth:

1. Find Relevant Feeds: Use the "Feeds" tab in the app to search for topics related to your niche. Pin your favorite ones to your home screen for easy access.
2. Engage with Content in Feeds: Make it a daily habit to browse a few of your top feeds. Reply to skeets, participate in discussions, and follow interesting people you discover there. You're now interacting directly with people who are already interested in your topics.
3. Get Your Content Featured: To get your own skeets included in a feed, pay attention to the keywords or hashtags that feed is looking for. Including a relevant term like `#WritingCommunity` or mentioning "product management" can get your posts pulled into those feeds, exposing your content to a much wider, highly targeted audience.

Stay Consistent and Play the Long Game

Organic growth takes time. There are no shortcuts to building a real, engaged following. The key is to show up consistently over time. You don’t need to be online 24/7, but finding a sustainable posting and engagement routine is what separates those who grow from those who fade away.

Find a schedule that works for you. Maybe that’s one thoughtful post and 15 minutes of engagement every day. Maybe it’s a deeper thread three times a week. Whatever it is, stick with it. Patience is essential. Focus on making one new, genuine connection each day, and let your audience grow from there. Your goal isn't to get the most followers, it's to get the right followers - people who care about what you have to say.

Final Thoughts

Growing your Bluesky audience comes down to providing consistent value and participating like a genuine member of the community. Optimize your profile, understand the platform's culture, engage in conversations thoughtfully, and leverage the power of Custom Feeds to find your people.

Balancing all of that while maintaining consistency can be a challenge. At the end of the day, social media growth is about building relationships, but the mechanics shouldn't get in your way. It’s why we built a tool to take the friction out of the process. With a visual content calendar and reliable multi-platform scheduling, Postbase helps you plan everything out ahead of time. This frees you up to spend less time toggling between apps and more time doing what actually matters: engaging with your community.