Bluesky has rolled out some updates to its social media app, adding reactions to direct messages and upgrading the search page to an “Explore” page that offers more ways for the user to navigate the platform. These new changes have added features similar to the ones already existing on X.
Chat reactions are exactly what it says on the tin. Users can react to messages by selecting an emoji from a pop-up under the message. The more commonly used emojis are listed first, with the option to select from more emojis under a three-dot menu.
📢 App Version 1.100 is rolling out now (1/2)Chat reactions are here! You can now respond to chat messages (aka “direct messages”) with an emoji ❤️
Meanwhile, the new Explore page shows users trending topics, suggested accounts, as well as curated lists of accounts to follow, known on the app as “Starter Packs”. The trending topics are also marked with labels, with separate labels for “Hot” and “New”. There are also labels indicating when the topic started trending, such as “5h ago”.
The suggested accounts are sorted into different categories based on the user’s interests. Bluesky also lets the user further personalise the content they see by selecting from a list of topics like Art, Comics, Music, Comedy, as well as many others.
As a good number of Bluesky users flocked to the site out of a desire for an X alternative, this update brings a familiar feel to the platform. X introduced emoji reactions to messages way back in 2020, with a later expansion to include more emojis.
(Source: TechCrunch)
