Bluesky adds video feeds for TikTok refugees
Bluesky has introduced custom feeds for vertical videos after TikTok briefly went dark in the US.
Image by Anna Barclay/Getty Images
Bluesky has introduced custom feeds for vertical videos after TikTok briefly went dark in the US.
The rapidly growing microblogging platform is responding to an influx of users looking for alternatives to TikTok, as the fate of the Chinese-owned app remains unclear in the US despite coming back online after 12 hours of being shut down.
“We had to get in on the video action too,” Bluesky said in a post announcing the change. Like other feeds on the app, users will be able to choose whether to pin those to the home screen or not.
Users can also enable a timeline consisting only of video posts, an experience mimicking that on TikTok. However, standard custom feeds and posts that contain video will not automatically enter users’ video timelines.
We had to get in on the video action too — Bluesky now has custom feeds for video! Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is yours to customize.
undefined Bluesky (@bsky.app) January 20, 2025 at 3:41 AM
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“The ability to swipe vertically between videos is specific to video custom feeds,” Bluesky said. The update is currently on a rollout for mobile users, according to the platform, and users are advised to restart their app once or twice if the changes are not visible to them.
Additionally, Bluesky noted developers like Tik.Blue, Skylight.Social, and Bluescreen.Blue, who are building “video only” TikTok alternatives on its decentralized AT Protocol.
Many users welcomed the addition of video feeds, but some said Bluesky should allow posting videos that are longer than the current limit of 60 seconds, while others suggested adding other features like the ability to edit posts.
Bluesky has benefited from the political turmoil that affected popular social platforms like Elon Musk’s X and Bytedance-owned TikTok. Since the US presidential election in November, the app has added over 12 million users, crossing the 28 million mark over the weekend.
Bluesky was an obvious choice for X users seeking an alternative, but less so for TikTok users, who opted to experiment with similar Chinese apps like Rednote and Lemon8. Adding TikTok-like video features could make the app more appealing to those accustomed to TikTok’s format.
Other social networks are working to make their platforms more appealing to TikTok users. Meta has introduced Edits, a video editing app designed to compete with CapCut, owned by TikTok's parent company ByteDance, while X has launched a vertical video feed in the US.