For cultural organizations venturing into Bluesky or considering establishing a presence, understanding the nuances of this platform is key. This “Ned Guide” provides essential insights to help your organization thrive on Bluesky from the outset. Drawing upon practical experience and observations, here are 13 actionable tips designed to get you started effectively.
1. Leverage Insights from Pioneering Organizations on Bluesky
Bluesky’s ‘Starter Packs’ are invaluable curated lists of accounts that offer a quick way to understand platform best practices. By following these packs, you gain immediate access to how similar institutions are utilizing Bluesky, allowing you to glean inspiration and adapt successful strategies. It’s recommended to initially ‘follow all’ within a relevant Starter Pack and then selectively unfollow accounts that are less aligned with your interests.
Sector-specific Starter Packs are particularly useful for new Bluesky library accounts. These packs offer a focused view of content strategies, engagement tactics, and success stories within your immediate peer group. If your organization falls into sectors like academic, public, or national libraries and isn’t yet included in these lists, reach out on Bluesky to request inclusion and broaden the resource for others. While packs for School, Law, or Special Libraries are still developing, resources for individual librarians can be found in guides like this one.
2. Optimize Your Profile Before Engaging
A consistent piece of advice across all Bluesky guides emphasizes the importance of profile completion before active engagement. It’s tempting to immediately start following others, but a well-crafted profile lays the groundwork for successful interactions. Profiles lacking a clear avatar, biography, or introductory post can be misidentified as bots, deterring follow-backs and potentially leading to auto-blocks. Prioritizing a complete profile, including an engaging introductory post, significantly enhances your initial outreach and community-building efforts on Bluesky.
3. Actively Seek Inclusion in Relevant Starter Packs
Starter Packs are not just for observation; they are powerful tools for accelerating follower growth, especially in the early stages of your Bluesky presence. While organic inclusion may occur over time, proactively requesting to be added to relevant packs is a more effective strategy. Pack creators generally aim to expand and enrich their lists, welcoming new additions that enhance the resource’s value.
For instance, The MERL’s Arts & Culture pack is a highly popular and engaging pack within the cultural sector. Additionally, explore local or regionally focused packs created by parent organizations or community groups to tap into more niche networks. The Bluesky Directory is a valuable resource for discovering packs to follow and potentially join, broadening your reach and connectivity within relevant communities.
4. Develop Community-Centric Starter Packs
Creating your own Starter Packs is a strategic approach to fostering community growth on Bluesky, particularly for organizations aiming to bring their existing audience from platforms like Twitter. This initiative encourages community members to join Bluesky and facilitates immediate connections. Examples include guides like the Researcher’s Guide to Bluesky, which garnered significant early traction and was disseminated through relevant newsletters. Similarly, creating a University of York Starter Pack enabled institution members to quickly find and connect with colleagues.
Launching a Starter Pack tailored to your community’s needs, such as a ‘healthcare professionals guide to Bluesky’ or a sector-specific pack, can significantly contribute to building a vibrant and engaged Bluesky presence. This proactive step is crucial for ensuring that your target audience finds value and community on the platform.
5. Tailor Content to Your Target Audience
Platform-agnostic social media strategy emphasizes audience-focused content creation. Clearly define your objectives for using Bluesky and identify your primary target audience. For example, while platforms like Instagram and TikTok may effectively reach university students, Bluesky might be strategically used to engage academics and researchers. Content should be specifically crafted to resonate with this defined audience. While broader appeal is welcome, consistently evaluate engagement metrics to ensure content is hitting the mark with your intended audience. If engagement primarily comes from peer institutions rather than your target demographic, refine your content strategy accordingly to realign with audience interests.
6. Embrace Proactive Engagement in a Non-Algorithmic Environment
Bluesky mirrors Twitter in functionality, offering features like posts up to 300 characters, reposts, and likes. However, a key differentiator is Bluesky’s default ‘Following’ feed, which operates without a centralized algorithm. Content is displayed in reverse chronological order solely from followed accounts, eliminating algorithm-driven content prioritization. To maximize value, actively build your network by following relevant accounts and engage consistently. Participate in conversations, pose questions, repost valuable content, and use the ‘like’ feature to foster interaction. The core objective is to cultivate a sense of community, moving beyond broadcasting organizational updates to creating meaningful dialogues and connections.
7. Prioritize Accessibility in Content Creation
Bluesky stands out by prioritizing accessibility, offering alt-text for both images and videos. To ensure your content is accessible from the outset, navigate to ‘Settings,’ find the ‘Accessibility’ section, and enable ‘Require alt-text before posting.’ This feature prompts you to add descriptive alt-text to every visual post, promoting inclusive content. Resources like this guide on writing effective alt-text descriptions provide valuable insights into creating impactful and descriptive alt-text.
8. Utilize Moderation Tools for a Positive Experience
A significant advantage of Bluesky over platforms like Twitter is its robust and effective moderation system, contributing to a less toxic environment. Bluesky provides extensive moderation options that empower users to curate their experience. Blocking is a potent tool, word muting effectively filters unwanted content, and you can detach your posts from reposts you find problematic. Actively leverage these built-in protections to maintain a constructive and positive online environment for your organization and community.
9. Enable Direct Messages for Open Communication
To facilitate community interaction and support, consider enabling open Direct Messages (DMs) on your Bluesky profile, allowing users to contact you even if they are not followers. This setting, located within the ‘Chat’ area rather than general ‘Settings,’ is crucial for organizations aiming to be accessible and responsive to community inquiries and feedback. While moderation tools are in place to manage interactions, open DMs enhance communication and community engagement.
10. Focus on Community Interests, Not Just Organizational Promotion
Effective social media management involves shifting from a purely promotional approach to a community-centric content strategy. Instead of solely focusing on organizational updates, aim to post content that resonates with your community’s interests and overlaps with your organizational mission. For example, this post about York proved popular with its target audience without any direct promotional message. Content that is relevant and engaging to the community, even if not directly promotional, can significantly enhance engagement and build stronger community connections.
These “Ned guide” tips offer a comprehensive starting point for cultural organizations aiming to establish and grow their presence on Bluesky. By focusing on community, engagement, and strategic content, your organization can effectively leverage Bluesky to connect with and serve its audience.
