Bluesky Invite Swap Thread

September 14, 2023 2:07 PM

I made an offhand offer of Bluesky invites in a thread and rapidly got more interest than I had invites. So I thought perhaps there was enough interest, and hopefully enough surplus invites, in the community to balance out!

Bluesky is one of the Twitter-replacement social media sites - it's very close to Twitter in form and function, and it's currently in invite-only beta. I'm professionaly skeptical of what it'll look like once it really starts to scale up, but right now it's fun, with an ethos of "block early, block often" and a much greater tolerance for adult content than any of the other mainstream social media sites.

I genuinely don't know what the easiest method for getting people together will be, but I trust we can figure it out! It's just probably wisest to not post the codes themselves in the thread, since that will lead to confusion and disappointment all around.

edited to add The Swap Spreadsheet

posted by restless_nomad to MetaFilter-Related at 2:07 PM (173 comments total)

I've been on the waitlist for ages and would love an invite!
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 3:04 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would take one of these...
posted by advil at 3:10 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have 5 codes at present, happy to hand them out
posted by Kybard at 3:27 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

(And I now have an account - thanks, Kybard!)
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 3:40 PM on September 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

I'd love an invite!
posted by doublenelson at 4:10 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would like an invite if there are any available.
posted by Sebmojo at 4:13 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have an invite to give out.
posted by orange swan at 4:26 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

codes sent to Sebmojo, doublenelson, and advil.

so I have one remaining
posted by Kybard at 4:29 PM on September 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

I would love one, if there are any left to give!
posted by carrienation at 4:31 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd like one, please!
posted by mdonley at 4:33 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

last one MeMailed to carrienation!

if I get any more of them (they seem to trickle in at random?) I can pop back in and re-offer
posted by Kybard at 4:35 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I sent one to mdonley!

Don't worry Masto folks! I am not abandoning you. I just have different friends on the different services.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 5:17 PM on September 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

I would love an invite if anyone has a spare...
posted by sencha at 5:29 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I sent the one I had to sencha.
posted by orange swan at 5:32 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would love an invite if anybody else has a spare?
posted by Lesium at 5:35 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks Orange Swan! Once I create an account I'll come back to the thread if I get invite codes!
posted by sencha at 5:44 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have sent my second and last invite to Lesium.

They refresh every two weeks IIRC. I don't know when I'll get a new one but that's the overall time frame.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 5:59 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yes please, if anyone still has some to offer.
posted by tiamat at 6:54 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

One. Please and thank you.
posted by briank at 6:58 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'll ask for one if there is still one to be had.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:30 PM on September 14, 2023

I'd like one too!
posted by potrzebie at 8:21 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Please add me to the list of those wanting a code, thanks
posted by Sophont at 8:31 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

If there are still invites I would love one :)
posted by Rumple at 8:32 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd like an invite too, please.
posted by h00py at 8:46 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have an invite. Will give to the first person who sends me a message asking for it. (and will post when that's done)
posted by kbuxton at 8:47 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I’d love an invite if anyone has a spare kicking around. I’m in Project Hell at present; three weeks into an eight week telephony migration project without a defined Lead, or even project team, and arbitrary and poorly defined DEAR design requests coming through an intermediary level from a Sponsor who won’t provide technical documentation about the new platform.

It’s like being asked to write a letter to Santa when what I really need is the catalogue for the department store we’re driving to.

Social media’s been a vital distraction, but Xwitter’s killing my battery and its full of The Badness these days which is only worsening my anxiety.
posted by MarchHare at 8:49 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

And it's gone.
posted by kbuxton at 8:50 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I would love an invite if anyone else has one trickle in.
posted by charmedimsure at 9:11 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yes please
posted by edjusted at 11:30 PM on September 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd love an invite if there are any going spare!
posted by ellieBOA at 12:13 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sure, why not
posted by creatrixtiara at 12:35 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have four invites at the moment for anyone interested--message me here.
posted by thomas j wise at 4:07 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have three invite codes, memail if you want one
posted by riddley at 4:16 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have six invites. Memail me.
posted by tzuzie at 4:19 AM on September 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I have two invite codes, Memail if interested!
posted by Kitteh at 4:47 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've been on the waitlist for quite a while. If someone's still got one, please MeMail me - I'd love an invite.
posted by hanov3r at 6:30 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks tzuzie!!
posted by chasles at 6:37 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have two invites - will watch my Memail...
posted by ersatzkat at 7:36 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I've got four or five, please feel free to memail me!
posted by babelfish at 7:44 AM on September 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I've got one to share, please memail me! (Courtesy of another mefite who got me in originally)
posted by Liesl at 7:55 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have five, memail me!
posted by cooker girl at 8:01 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

One down, four left!
posted by cooker girl at 8:45 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have some, please memail me. Thanks!
posted by lukemeister at 8:50 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have several. Happy to share - just memail me.
posted by jzb at 10:22 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have four but I don't want your dirty memails, just grab them from this sheet and pls check the box if you used the corresponding code.

(I suppose other people can add codes to the sheet too whatever I'm not your mom.)
posted by fleacircus at 10:28 AM on September 15, 2023 [22 favorites]

A friendly user MeMailed me one but hasn’t commented in this thread- thank you!!!
posted by charmedimsure at 10:46 AM on September 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thank you, fleacircus! I have used one of the codes on your sheet.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:53 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

It seems there is a surplus of invites but I have one if anyone wants it. Shoot me a MeMail.
posted by bondcliff at 11:08 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I added 4 additional codes to the sheet . Thank you fleacircus!
posted by tzuzie at 11:09 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you, fleacircus et al.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 11:42 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Added three to that sheet.
posted by General Malaise at 12:24 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Mine was claimed.
posted by bondcliff at 2:23 PM on September 15, 2023

I added two more
posted by purpleclover at 2:37 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I put a few codes on fleacircus' sheet. (Thanks to 73pctGeek for gifting me an invite to get in a few weeks back!)
posted by erolls at 2:45 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I used a code (I don't know whose, but thanks to everyone who put some up). I'm here if anyone wants to follow me.
posted by dng at 2:54 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

i used the last one, thanks erolls and everybody
posted by disso at 4:01 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Super late to this party, but I would love an invite if anyone has one to spare
posted by lovermont at 4:34 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Me2 4 1
posted by y2karl at 5:15 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Got one - thanks so much to whoever added to the sheet!
posted by lovermont at 5:19 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Would love to get an invite too, if anybody's got one... thanks!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:27 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Grabbed one from the sheet! Thanks!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 5:28 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks, fleacircus, for being not my mom
posted by drumcorpse at 5:40 PM on September 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Just added a couple to the sheet.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 6:29 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just added 3
posted by kathrynm at 6:48 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

The sheet was very genius, thank you fleacircus!
posted by babelfish at 7:58 PM on September 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I added some codes to the sheet, that's a great way to do it
posted by secretseasons at 9:43 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Now that we're flooding into BlueSky, can someone add it to the list of Social Apps for our MeFi profile pages?
posted by briank at 5:53 AM on September 16, 2023 [7 favorites]

Just added 5 more invites to that sheet for anyone who wants them. Enjoy. :)
posted by Fizz at 6:14 AM on September 16, 2023

I just used one of the invite codes on the sheet - thank you very much everyone!
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 6:48 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

All out but if I get more I'll add them to the sheet!
posted by cooker girl at 7:30 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is great. I DMd not looking for an invite but for a chance to follow. My social graph there is underwhelming and I'd like to find more good people to interact with.
posted by stevil at 8:01 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you - I used one.
posted by Mid at 8:27 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you! Used one from the sheet, checked the box.
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 11:49 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh, thx! I used a code. If the sheet stays up long enough, I'll add any codes I get in the future! Great idea fleacircus and thanks to all sharing codes.
posted by the primroses were over at 11:58 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

thanks used the sheet.
posted by clavdivs at 2:48 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I added 5 more!
posted by gemmy at 5:32 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Snagged one, thank you! I'll add some when I can.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:42 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you, I snagged one from the sheet!
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 6:45 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you! PCMag's How to Get Started on Bluesky Social
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:00 PM on September 16, 2023

I've just given away my most recent one, and have one person awaiting the next, but happy to add more to the sheet if it's still operating in a few weeks.

I'm silversprite.bsky.social over there, and love it. Several mutual follows are MeFites. Been on since early summer, when there were around 100,000 people (largely quiet) but it's busier with over a million people now. My current social media of choice.

I'd caution against too close comparisons to Twitter. Yes, superficially, it looks very similar. But it's fundamentally different. The slow crawl of development means there's not yet direct messaging. And it's feed oriented; for example, to see what posts (I refuse to call them skeets) you have previously liked, you need to activate the feed for that.

Having said that, the range of feeds has grown substantially these last few months. Without needing an account on Bluesky, you can search a directory of feeds at https://goodfeeds.co/ (game is a good example to search on, to see the types of feeds within Bluesky)
posted by Wordshore at 11:29 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd like one, please (sheet's all taken atm)!
posted by taz (staff) at 1:38 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

taz, i just dropped three codes on the sheet that i thought were claimed but haven't been used (bluesky crosses out the ones that have been used to set up accounts). try those out and see if one works!
posted by cooker girl at 7:29 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I added a couple more codes.
posted by sudama at 8:22 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you, I got one from Tolmorrowful! ❤️
posted by taz (staff) at 9:17 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Got one from the sheet, thank you so much!! 😍
posted by dual_action at 9:38 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I’ve put one more into the sheet. I’m leahwrenn.bsky.social over there.
posted by leahwrenn at 10:07 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I haven’t got any codes to share yet but am ellieboa.bsky.social!
posted by ellieBOA at 10:42 AM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

In addition to the above, I also found these links useful:
One list of accounts to follow on Bluesky
and
Getting Started On Bluesky
posted by fings at 1:13 PM on September 17, 2023 [4 favorites]

Two more on the sheet - I'm kimberussell.bsky.social!
posted by kimberussell at 1:23 PM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks to kimberussell for the key to the magical land of muskless skeeting!

One thing I found that's worth warning about -- once you've created your account, you can't go to your Profile (by clicking on the head-in-a-circle icon on the left side of the screen) until you make one post or reply. You'll just get a Page Not Found error. You need to reply to somebody else, then you can Edit Profile to give yourself a display name and a "description."

So now that I'm on there, how can I create some invite codes to hand out to everyone else?
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 4:06 PM on September 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

You'll get them automatically after a time--maybe a week or two? I'm told that more will eventually appear after you give the first ones away, but have not witnessed that personally.

The codes can be found on your settings page.
posted by box at 4:23 PM on September 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

I hope to pay this back someday, my handle is my website: c.hannaher.net
posted by channaher at 4:41 PM on September 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

I just added one to the sheet, and I'm @yrgoldteeth.bsky.social on there!
posted by ndfine at 4:59 PM on September 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Does this mean Mastadon is over?
posted by Rash at 5:29 PM on September 17, 2023

Another large mammal extinction event.
posted by y2karl at 6:38 PM on September 17, 2023

Just added one to the sheet, if anyone's still looking! I'm @susanschorn.bsky.social over there.
posted by helpthebear at 7:05 PM on September 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am, surprisingly, @bondcliff.bsky.social.
posted by bondcliff at 7:10 PM on September 17, 2023 [2 favorites]

Would love an invite if anyone has one going! Send me a memail :)
posted by Cimrmanova at 12:54 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

One thing I found that's worth warning about -- once you've created your account, you can't go to your Profile (by clicking on the head-in-a-circle icon on the left side of the screen) until you make one post or reply. You'll just get a Page Not Found error. You need to reply to somebody else, then you can Edit Profile to give yourself a display name and a "description."

Not my experience?
posted by ellieBOA at 1:19 AM on September 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

Not sure how many MeFites I'm currently following on Bluesky, as some have chosen different names over there, but eduguess it's between 30 and 40. If you skim through my follow list you may find a few more of interest.

One Bluesky person you should definitely consider following has the address librarian.bsky.social and their profile reads "Vermont librarian. I own MetaFilter. I love the post office."
posted by Wordshore at 1:19 AM on September 18, 2023

If anyone has a spare invite code, and can send me one, it would be appreciated.
posted by SillyShepherd at 1:50 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have 5 invites available but am too unfocused to read the thread. Memail me if you'd like me to send you one.

I'm on there as volver.bsky.social.
posted by dobbs at 6:23 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

In indirectly related news, T2 has just rebranded to Pebble.

(I now have four social networking links in my toolbar where once was just the one—the birdsite—and none of them is X... undecided about which to go all-in on. About a quarter of my old Twitter follows are on Masto, about a third on Bluesky, and I haven't really explored Threads or T2/Pebble properly. Guess I'll be lurking on all of them for the time being.)
posted by rory at 6:43 AM on September 18, 2023

Three codes added to the sheet

I am mikepop.bsky.social unsurprisingly (find me as mikepop in most places!)

I haven't been keeping up with posting there because honestly it is exhausting trying all these social networks. I'm getting some traction on Mastodon, but it feels like we're just going to have to deal with a bunch of networks for the foreseeable future at least. Maybe bluesky will be "The One With All The Metafilter People" for me once I add people in this thread.
posted by mikepop at 7:13 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am interested and would try this if Mefites are there and would need an invite! What a great idea.
posted by corb at 8:29 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is a very sweet thread, but folks should be aware that Bluesky's leadership has a view of moderation that will almost certainly not scale up well, and has already resulted in decisions that have raised eyebrows, like this episode (explained here: "Bluesky’s growing pains strain its relationship with Black users"), where CEO Jay Graber and her team scrambled to come up with a policy explaining why they allowed a user who'd posted racist nonsense previously to stay on the platform after posting about one of the site's most prominent Black users that "she needs to get up somewhere real high...and then...Shove."

Graber's team also notoriously failed to block one of the worst racial slurs in user names (while blocking "cracker" and "fuck"), and then failed to apologize for the inexplicable oversight after fixing the code. The lack of even a basic "we're sorry for that" sparked calls and emails from investors to Graber telling her to get her shit together:

Inside Twitter rival Bluesky’s first major crisis, as investors pressured CEO Jay Graber to speak out about racist incident

The email to Bluesky CEO Jay Graber was blunt and to the point...“You’re undermining your own work by being silent and confirming people’s worst fears with that silence..."

“We have been bombarded with people asking why a simple apology hasn’t been offered,” the investors wrote in an email viewed by Fortune..."we can’t help but feel like your actions are anti-Black by not addressing the issues and your part in them.”

...The anti-Black perception from the incident also took a toll, causing a loss in high-profile users, some of whom helped build the Black community on Bluesky...Two days after the incident, with no formal apology in sight, several of Bluesky’s investors had a call with Graber and urged her to break her silence...The letter from the two investors followed six days later, with a more urgent tone. “The perception is that Bluesky is anti-Black, and frankly that’s now the reality,” the investors wrote in an email. Two days after the email exchange, and 10 days after the initial incident, Graber published a formal apology to the community...

There's a lot more in that article.

restless_nomad: I'm professionaly skeptical of what it'll look like once it really starts to scale up

Yeah, the site owners' clear instinctive preference for a hands-off "composable moderation" strategy - which puts the onus on users to label and sort objectionable material from their feeds - deserves a skeptical eye.

That said, you get an invite to share every two weeks, and this is indeed a very nice thread. I have two if anyone needs one.
posted by mediareport at 8:43 AM on September 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thank you, mediareport, for adding details to my gut feeling of "Jack Dorsey kinda screwed up Twitter's moderation and never publicly acknowledged that, so I don't really trust he's gonna do any better this time".

W : Trump :: Jack : Elon
posted by Plutor at 9:09 AM on September 18, 2023

FWIW, Dorsey is one of 3 people on the board, but technically isn't an owner. Here's the most detailed article I've seen on the company's structure, from June:

When asked for clarification about Bluesky’s ownership, Emily Liu, another member of the Bluesky team, told me that Bluesky has been offering employees equity as part of their compensation packages, as is a common practice with startups. She also confirmed that Bluesky PBLLC’s board consists of Graber, Dorsey, and Jeremie Miller, inventor of the open and decentralized chat protocol Jabber.

For burgeoning Twitter skeptics, this should be good news: a much better arrangement than if it were owned by Dorsey or, worse yet, if it were a subsidiary of Twitter. The arrangement also explains why Bluesky PBLLC appears on Dun & Bradstreet’s list of minority and women-owned businesses: Jay Graber, Bluesky PBLLC’s CEO and primary owner, is a woman of color.
posted by mediareport at 9:32 AM on September 18, 2023

(That last bit was surprising; I haven't been able to find much biographical information at all about Graber.)
posted by mediareport at 9:37 AM on September 18, 2023

I am having more fun on BlueSky than I have had on social media in ages. Most of my Barbelith gang has decamped to there, I'm following some fun comics folks, and if needed, I blockety-block-block bad actors. (Same as I did with Twitter.)

I will say I am encountering less bad actors right out of the gate as compared to Twitter. I can't find the post, but someone described BlueSky as the bleachers behind the school, where you can smoke cigarettes and make dumb jokes with your friends. That's all I need it for. My follow list is small and I will likely keep it that way. I will follow MeFites, Barbelithers, neato burrito comics people, and that's probably about it. Right now BlueSky scratches the itch of wanting to be on social media without having to commit to being Extremely Online. (I am 46; I have no need to be Extremely Online.)

You can find me at @marisasandlin.bsky.social if you like!
posted by Kitteh at 9:38 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yeah, the site owners' clear instinctive preference for a hands-off "composable moderation" strategy - which puts the onus on users to label and sort objectionable material from their feeds - deserves a skeptical eye.

:looks around: Are we talking about Bluesky or MetaFilter right now?
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 9:55 AM on September 18, 2023

Only one has compostable moderation.
posted by y2karl at 10:09 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I got a code off the sheet and will add codes when I get some to the sheet. I’ve followed some people here, but will be following more. Thank you!
posted by SillyShepherd at 10:28 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yeah, the site owners' clear instinctive preference for a hands-off "composable moderation" strategy - which puts the onus on users to label and sort objectionable material from their feeds - deserves a skeptical eye.

It looks like it could fit an AI moderation strategy down the road. The flagger could have a good track record to place a weight on, for example, elevating a user to de facto moderator status. A bonus would be to delete disinformation before it was posted.
posted by Brian B. at 10:44 AM on September 18, 2023

Alright, thanks to a generous fellow mefite, I am now @mefcorv, and whoever that corb and other variants on that name is, it isn't me. :)
posted by corb at 11:14 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd love a code when one becomes available!
posted by victoriab at 11:14 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have snagged a code from the list.

Every time I sign up for a new social media site, I think "I should take a minute and think of a creative username instead of just signing up as me so I'm a little less traceable across the Internet" and every time I just end up as jacquilynne. Again. @jacquilynne.bsky.social
posted by jacquilynne at 11:20 AM on September 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’ve added 6 new codes to the sheet. I’m rogerpittmanjr.bsky.social over there.
posted by Roger Pittman at 11:50 AM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I just dropped 5 into the sheet. Go nuts!

I peruse it every so often; most of my activities there are cross-posted from micro.blog (and ditto for mastodon.social).
posted by jquinby at 1:20 PM on September 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

and every time I just end up as jacquilynne.

You can change it at will if the new one is available. They use a separate unique identifier.
posted by Brian B. at 1:49 PM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

@hatfullofsky.bsky.social thanks you for the code!
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:47 PM on September 18, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thanks to whoever's code I grabbed (Roger Pittman, probably?)! I'm mpdylan in enough places on the net that I decided to just go with @mpdylan.bsky.social.
posted by egregious theorem at 4:22 PM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I added one to the sheet. @russetpomme.bsky.social
posted by annathea at 5:35 PM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks for those sharing, I've grabbed one. @paulrb.bsky.social; don't expect much activity from me.
posted by nubs at 6:06 PM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I dropped all my available codes into the sheet. I am, as I am everywhere, @drlith.bsky.social
posted by drlith at 7:06 PM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

If you put MetaFilter in your profile and/or a post, then you'll be a little easier for other MeFites to find you (if you want to be found).

There is an extremely simple and blunt MetaFilter feed on Bluesky (I used track.goodfeeds.co to create it):
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:lyrmsmhhg7vzz4ghj44y5xzq/feed/e0631f9e8747

A few other feeds, and their one-line descriptions, of possible interest:

What's Science: A curated feed from Bluesky scientists, science communicators, and related experts; speaking from their expertise.
Greensky: A list of climate, energy, justice, enviro accounts.
Sapphic Books & WLW: Includes keywords sapphic/lesbian/WLW + book/ novel/fiction/romance/mystery/fantasy/thriller/science fiction. As well as: lesfic, sapphfic, Sapphic September, Sapphic Book Bingo, IHS Reading Challenge.
Climate crisis: This feed surfaces the terms climate crisis, climate change, heatwave, flash flood and sea level rise. Think of this as a saved search for these terms.
Birds! Birds galore! Photos, art, science, memes, & more!
Game Narrative & Writing: All things video game narrative, writing & storytelling related! [#narrativedesign, #gamewriting, other key terms from a list of industry pros are auto-included in the feed.
Cat Pics: A feed of cat pictures from the whole network (sometimes not cats).
Earth Scientists: Earth and Planetary Scientists talking about Earth and Planetary Science.
Skybrarians (firehose): libraries and library-adjacent (you didn't think you could escape, former librarian, did you?)
Trans+Queer Shitposters: A feed of all posts from authors in the Trans + Queer Shitposters Cluster.
Game Dev: Posts about all aspects of game development. Opt in with "game", followed by animation, art, audio, design, dev, jam, lighting, music, narrative, or writing.
Political Science: A feed for political science and international relations research and discussion. For academics and people who want to follow scholarship, not general discussion/rants/etc.

(@silversprite.bsky.social)
posted by Wordshore at 12:56 AM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

Neat sheet! I dropped two invites in there. I’m also Kattullus over on Bluesky.
posted by Kattullus at 6:16 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

@[e-mail]
Thanks to tzuzie for a working invite.
posted by briank at 6:36 AM on September 19, 2023

Just threw three onto the list. I'm sienamystic.bsky.social but I'm mostly lurking and re-not-tweeting-but-whatever-it-is.
posted by PussKillian at 8:14 AM on September 19, 2023

On Icelandic Bluesky there’s a divide between people who call a skeet “skeyti” (pronounced SKAY-tih), which means “message”, and those who call a skeet “skítur” (pronounced SKEE-turr), which means “shit”. Those are the two genders of a Bluesky post.
posted by Kattullus at 8:57 AM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

That was meant to say “two genres of a Bluesky post” but autocorrect is the shitposter in this relationship.
posted by Kattullus at 8:58 AM on September 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

I want you nice people to be happy and to have the things you want. Sincerely. And if you're giving BlueSky a shot, I hope it works out great. I really do.

But, should you find that the new Twitter alternative from the old Twitter guy isn't all it is cracked up to be, please do visit us on mefi.social, the MeFi instance in the Fediverse. Whereas BlueSky just crossed 1 million users in July, Mastodon/the Fediverse is at 2.1 million active users. It's nice over there. Pronoiac keeps a nice place.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:17 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Like, can we NOT do this in BlueSky invite thread? I know the general read of Metafilter is pro-Mastodon, despite me and many many others who have stated why it doesn't fly for us, and of course, this never stops folks telling us We Are Doing It Wrong or You Just Don't Understand It.

Please feel free to create a Mastodon MeTa that lists everyone's Masto handles and their advice for the curious. I get it, I am Part of the Problem because I want a friction-free social media experience. Sorry, I do and I know how to block people on any social media platform, so I don't need to be told that I suck for wanting a non-Masto option.
posted by Kitteh at 12:34 PM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

this never stops folks telling us We Are Doing It Wrong or You Just Don't Understand It... I don't need to be told that I suck for wanting a non-Masto option.

There seems to be a disconnect between what I said and what you're reacting to, but the part about me hoping everything works out was sincere.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:54 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Four invites added.
posted by kyrademon at 1:56 AM on September 20, 2023

thanks for the sheet and the invite. i'll be posting my art on bluesky @smerp.bksy.social but not much other interaction, as I've found a home on mastodon. follow if you like!
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:07 AM on September 20, 2023

Previous useful Mastodon MetaTalk threads:
April 2022
November 2022

I also didn't read DOT's comment as harshly as Kitteh did; it felt completely appropriate to add that gentle plug for Mastodon at the bottom of this thread.
posted by mediareport at 9:09 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Cool idea, I will add invites to the sheet as available!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:30 AM on September 20, 2023

Added an invite. See y'all there! My handle is @kaelynski.bluesky.social
posted by kaelynski at 12:00 PM on September 20, 2023

I managed to grab a code off the sheet (and I'll add one or more once I start getting them) - I'm @hanov3r.bsky.social if anyone wants to add me.
posted by hanov3r at 4:42 PM on September 20, 2023

I just put two more invite codes on the sheet. Looks like there is currently eleven on there for the taking.
posted by orange swan at 8:06 PM on September 20, 2023

I just added a couple more invite codes.
posted by correcaminos at 11:53 AM on September 22, 2023

grabbed one (now @jimw.tmky.us) and also marked a couple that the app flagged as already used when i tried to use them.
posted by jimw at 11:55 AM on September 22, 2023

I added one!
posted by BlahLaLa at 4:56 PM on September 22, 2023

I snagged one and checked the box; thank you!
posted by heyho at 1:47 PM on September 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thank you! I've gotten one from the spreadsheet and checked the box. I'll add back when I receive some.
posted by ltracey at 8:00 AM on September 24, 2023

I got one from The spreadsheet and marked it as used. Thanks!
posted by bxvr at 8:03 AM on September 25, 2023

codes sent to Sebmojo, doublenelson, and advil.

This thread has existed long enough that I just got my first invite code, and added it to the spreadsheet -- the cycle continues!

Also, I wonder if a mod could edit the original post to include the link to the google sheet? It's worked very well but is now a bit buried.
posted by advil at 8:30 AM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

+1 to what advil said

Here’s the link again for convenience
posted by bxvr at 9:41 AM on September 25, 2023

I grabbed a code and marked it off the sheet. Thanks!!!
posted by slogger at 10:42 AM on September 25, 2023

Also, I wonder if a mod could edit the original post to include the link to the google sheet?

I happened to glance in and happen to have that capacity, so... done!
posted by restless_nomad (retired) at 11:05 AM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

I just noticed I have another one. Drop me a MeMail if you want it.
posted by bondcliff at 12:11 PM on September 25, 2023

Just nabbed a code thank you! Will add back a code when I can.
posted by poseathon at 2:13 PM on September 25, 2023

I just added a code to the spreadsheet. Thank you tzuzie for sharing a couple of weeks ago.
posted by Claude Hoeper at 9:03 AM on September 26, 2023

Got a code much faster than I would have expected - popped it on the spreadsheet, looks like 3 up for grabs right now
posted by the primroses were over at 5:11 PM on September 26, 2023

Added one- there are currently 3 available on the spreadsheet.
posted by charmedimsure at 10:47 PM on September 26, 2023

added the invite I found under settings
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:27 PM on September 26, 2023

I've just added the first invite code I've gotten to the spreadsheet.
posted by hanov3r at 7:21 AM on September 27, 2023

added the invite I found under settings

Me too!
posted by ellieBOA at 10:47 AM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

Added my first invite code to the sheet.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 2:48 PM on September 27, 2023

Oh for all the folks new to it like me - if you don’t go to settings, you’ll miss all posts without a lot of likes on them! And bless whatever Mefite posted it because otherwise I never would have known myself.
posted by corb at 3:36 PM on September 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

Is MetaFilter itself on bluesky?
posted by bluefly at 3:19 AM on October 1, 2023

I took one code and I hadn't got a new invite code until just now, so I added it to the spreadsheet. Many thanks to the donor whose code I got.
posted by sukeban at 12:44 PM on October 1, 2023

I've added another 4, bringing the current total unused codes to 11.

(Do worry a little that as the sheet is public it could get sniffed out by bot farmers at some point and all the active codes hoovered up..? )
posted by Buntix at 1:37 AM on October 2, 2023

I just took one of the codes, thanks! I'm a bit lost on how to follow people from here but ahhh I guess I'll figure it out...

Also just noticed that DirtyOldTown has closed their account here, which makes me a little sad. :/
posted by bitteschoen at 9:16 AM on October 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

It makes me more than a lot of sad.
posted by y2karl at 10:09 AM on October 2, 2023 [6 favorites]

code: added!

bitteschoen -- I've found I'm stumbling onto Mefites pretty easily. Find one, see who they follow.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:07 PM on October 2, 2023

DirtyOldTown has closed their account here, which makes me a little sad. :/

I know there are a lot of reasons someone would close their account, so I hope things are going ok for DOT. If anyone has a way to get a message to them, I'd love to check in. Feel free to Memail.
posted by mediareport at 9:08 AM on October 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Have added my invite codes.
posted by rozcakj at 11:09 AM on October 3, 2023

I haven't buttoned exactly but I'm also taking a break from MetaFilter. But DirtyOldTown asked if someone could check in on his behalf since you guys asked about him. He wrote:

I am fine but MeFi is a bit mean-spirited for me these days. A bit circular firing squad.

For those interested, he's on mefi.social under the same username (so am I actually). I'm probably checking back out here so may not see if you respond to this.
posted by biogeo at 11:13 AM on October 3, 2023 [12 favorites]

Added another code to the sheet! Glad there are enough for everyone.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:21 AM on October 5, 2023

I added a code to the sheet. Thank you to the creator of the sheet, and everyone who has filled it in!
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:34 PM on October 11, 2023

Added another code to the sheet.
posted by ellieBOA at 5:43 PM on October 11, 2023