In recent months, Bluesky has made significant progress, simplifying the sign-up process and rolling out a steady stream of new features. As part of these ongoing efforts, the social media app has announced the introduction of direct messaging (DM) capabilities. With a Bluesky account, users can now send private one-to-one messages directly within the app. According to the company’s announcement post, anyone a user follows on Bluesky can send them a DM by default. However, users can disable DMs or limit who can send DMs by adjusting the settings in the app. Additionally, blocked users cannot send DMs, while muted users can still do so. Blocking a user who has sent a DM can be done from within the DM feature itself.
Sending a DM on Bluesky is straightforward. Users simply need to:
1. Select the Chat icon. On mobile devices, it appears at the bottom of the screen, while on desktops, it’s a chat bubble on the sidebar.
2. For mobile, tap the “+” icon to initiate a new conversation. On desktops, select “New chat” in the top right corner to start a new conversation.
3. Search for the user to message, compose the message, and hit send.
Bluesky notes that if the app indicates a user cannot be messaged, it may be because they have set their account to only receive DMs from followers or no one. Currently, Bluesky’s DM feature only supports text-based messages. However, the company is working on incorporating images and other media formats. Group direct messages are also on the roadmap, and the app aims to “fully support end-to-end encrypted messaging down the line.”
Bluesky and Meta-owned Threads have emerged as the primary competitors to Twitter, now known as X, and the recent additions to both apps have made their user experiences increasingly similar to X’s offerings. Earlier this year, Bluesky reported gaining nearly a million users within a day of opening up its beta program to everyone. This brought its total user base to approximately four million.
Bluesky’s introduction of direct messaging further expands the platform’s capabilities for private communication. As the app continues to evolve and add new features, it remains to be seen how it will compete with established players like X in the social media landscape.
