New Bluesky update: Popular comments are now shown at the top
In the Bluesky app, popular replies to posts are now displayed at the top by default. Some feel reminded of Facebook or X.
(Image: Diego Thomazini/Shutterstock.com)
Bluesky has introduced a few changes with the new update of its app, one of which is the subject of heated debate among users: by default, the most popular replies to a post are displayed at the top. This is apparently not so popular with users.
When replying to posts, "hot replies first" – popular replies first. Bluesky classifies replies as popular if they have been posted recently and have received a higher number of likes than others. The new sorting comes as a standard setting with the app update.
"Hot replies first" criticized
For the developers of a social media app, this type of sorting is an obvious step. Any content that potentially amuses, touches, confirms or triggers other forms of strong feelings promises the highest chance of a like, comment, longer stay or other actions that increase the traffic of such platforms. Achieving a mixture of anger and empathy from users is the most profitable for the platforms, wrote Christopher Wylie –, who uncovered the Cambridge Analytica scandal – in his book "Mindfuck".
And many Bluesky users feel reminded of precisely such practices. Many criticize Bluesky's update on its own platform: sorting by "hotness" belongs more on Facebook or on X. Many had migrated to Bluesky after the X takeover by Elon Musk, and Threads also recorded a large influx. "Don't support clout farmers" is now a frequent demand to Bluesky. In this context, clout farming means using your own reach to persuade other people to adopt your point of view, for example with a polarizing top comment.
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However, the new sorting method also has advantages. If it works properly, it offers more responses a chance to get a lot of attention and can provide a more balanced picture. And if you don't want to spend your time visiting the comment column for a flood of irrelevant emojis, tags or other irrelevant comments, the "hot replies" may filter out the really relevant and topical stuff.
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How to change your comment settings
Users are also not forced to keep the default setting. Instead, comments can also be sorted by age, randomly or by likes. The difference between sorting by likes and the "hotness" filter is that the comments with the most likes are at the top – and not the most recent comments with the most likes. If you want to change your settings here, you can do so in the Bluesky app under Settings>Content and Media>Thread Preferences (tested on iOS).
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Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Inhalt geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
In addition to the new comment sorting, app version 1.95 promises better localization and better feed scrolling. The option to swipe away "Informational Toast" notifications with your finger is now also available. Behind this mysterious-sounding innovation is probably the ability to swipe away notifications that appear at the top of the user interface –, for example, when you follow an account –.
The most important bug fixes in this version are the elimination of problems with camera photos and the preservation of line breaks when pasting copied text. Over the next few weeks, it will be particularly exciting to see how the "Hot Replies first" function develops – and to what extent it will be included in the next app update.
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