- Bluesky updated its slim verification system
- Domains remain critical
- It's also adding Mentions
Bluesky's soaring popularity as the social media platform of the moment has been somewhat hamstrung by frustrating verification problems. Simply put, there's no official verification system in place, at least not the traditional Blue Check you can find on Instagram, Threads, X, and TikTok. But now the distributed platform has made one relatively minor change that could have a big impact on protecting everyone's names from handle squatters.
In a relatively small update (1.96) released on Thursday, December 19, Bluesky announced that if you change your Bluesky handle to a domain name, the original handle, which might also feature your full name, will be reserved for you. You don't have to use it, but the old handle will never expire and, therefore, never fall into someone else's hands. It's the equivalent of forever ownership of site domains, which doesn't exist. If you stop paying for your website domain, it will go back on the market, and anyone else can take it.
In the case of Bluesky, the focus on domains is important because this is how Bluesky verifies accounts or at least provides a form of verification for account holders. Bluesky explains in a blog post, "On Bluesky, you can set your website as your username. This is one form of verification on Bluesky, and it's our version of a 'blue check.' We highly recommend that official organizations and high-profile individuals do this."
Get a domain check
Bluesky explains how to do this in the post and I walked through the process for myself here. In my case, my handle went from lance.ulanoff@bsky.social to @lanceulanoff.com. I already own my domain, but if you don't, Bluesky is now offering to search for and secure a domain for you.
It can be a little confusing because other social platforms seemingly make it easier, allowing you to verify full names and other custom handles. Bluesky is not, though, your average platform; it's built on the AT Protocol, the benefit being that your profile and social media activity are not owned by Bluesky and are actually portable to any platform built on that protocol. However, AT Protocol is designed to use domains for identification in part because it's a strong verification signal.
Bluesky's system still lacks a visual cue that a handle is verified, though. Of course, if you see a domain, well, you know it is. Even so, who doesn't like a Blue Check?
Bluesky did introduce a couple of other small updates, including a Mentions tab, which, yes, is reminiscent of other micro-blogging social media platforms. It lets you split your notifications into posts that specifically mention your handle.
Even as all these platforms grow (Threads just hit 300M users, Bluesky has around 25 million), these platforms become increasingly alike. As I continue to run X, Threads, and Bluesky, I sometimes struggle to tell which platform I'm in.
Surely, not all three can survive, and while I can't guess which platform wins, Bluesky is making the right moves to remain in the running.
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