Bluesky
Turning Bluesky into Instagram - my unexpected workflow.
Apps like Pinksky transform your Bluesky feed into a visual, Instagram-style experience, but there’s a catch.
When creating a Pinksky account, you have the option to either subscribe using your current Bluesky account or create a new profile. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options. In my case, I have decided to use my current account.
If that’s what you choose to do, remember to create a specific App Password to protect your Bluesky account.
I went with that route because of my experience with another decentralized protocol, the ActivityPub. In addition to my Mastodon account, I ended up creating profiles for Flipboard, Pixelfed, PeerTube, and many others. Long story short, it was a big mess, and, after a while, I had to invest some time reorganizing everything.
That said, the problem with using my current Bluesky account is that the Pinksky feed will include every single image people post. However, an image is not always equivalent to a picture. For example, news profiles usually include a cover image with the link to the article they are posting.
There’s a filter in the top-left corner of the screen (a) where you can choose the option to see only photos, but that will not do it. At least it didn’t change anything on my feed, probably because of what I explained in the paragraph above.
Ideally, I would appreciate it if Pinksky had a setting to allow us to hide some profiles from our feed there, and I did send a suggestion to the developer. But you know me, I had to come up with an Unexpected Workflow, right? So this is what I did.
On Bluesky, I created a new List, which I titled Pinksky Feed, and added some of the people I follow. Specifically, the ones who frequently post pictures I like. Since Pinksky will only show me their posts with pictures, the next step was to set that list as my feed on Pinksky.
If you need help creating a List, check the video below. If you already know how to do it, keep reading to learn how to select it as your default feed on Pinksky.
On Pinksky, tap on the hashtag icon at the top right-corner of the screen (b). Now, at the bottom of the screen, you can see all the ones you created on Bluesky. In my case, one of the options is the Pinksky Feed, which is the one I’ve chosen. The hashtag icon at the top right-corner of the screen (b) now has a small blue dot on it, as a reminder that you are seeing pictures from a specific feed.
And that’s it! From now on, as I go about my Bluesky browsing, I’ll simply add any cool, photo-focused accounts I find to that list.
How to create a specific Bluesky password for each App
By creating a specific password for each app, you not only avoid sharing your Bluesky password, but you can also easily revoke access if you need to.
Go to Settings and then click on Privacy & Security. The option we are looking for is App Passwords. Click on it, and if it’s your first time there, you’ll only see the Add App Password button (1). However, as shown in the image below, in my case, there are already some passwords that can be revoked by clicking the trashcan icon (2).
To create a password, click on the Add App Password button and type a name in the box. I always type the name of the app where I’m using that password. It will help me remember where you used that password, in case I want to revoke it in the future.
There’s also a box to Allow access to your direct message . This is precisely what it says, and that’s why I prefer to never check that box. But, of course, it’s up to you.
I would have bought even more books in Oxford.
I remember seeing people reading and studding in pubs in the movies, but I always doubted it was a real thing.
Our first site as first-time visitors to Oxford was Blackwell’s Bookshop. My wife and I are passionate about books, and that was a fascinating experience, but I was not expecting to see myself immediately entering another bookshop in the same street. Keep in mind that it happened minutes after spending almost the entire morning trying to control myself not to buy all the incredible books in that maze of shelves.
The first book I bought that day was ‘The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction’, but I would have purchased many others if I weren’t restricted by the size of the cabin baggage I was allowed to bring onboard the plane on my trip back to Porto.
And the bookstores were not the only ones tempting me. During one of our random walks, we came across a secondhand shop selling all sorts of intriguing old items and, of course, books.
It has to be small—I told myself.
‘The observer’s book of manned spaceflight’ from 1975 is indeed very compact, but there’s so much detail in it. It made me think a lot about how hard it was to write a book like this in the past. For starters, think about all the fact-checking.
In hindsight, choosing this book might have not been only a question of size. There must have been a big role played by my subconscious as well. The store had all these signs inviting people to follow them on Twitter, and I couldn’t resist and had to talk to them about decentralized social media, in particular Bluesky and Mastodon, when paying for the book.
The current state of that other social network and that person, whom I’d rather not mention the name, are making me even stop watching some great creators covering SpaceX. Yes, I’m probably not mature enough to separate things. Or, maybe, I’m just a simple human being with a strong sense of ethics. Anyway, back to the city and its countless bookshops.
This time it was a store practically bagging us to go inside. There were so many books outside, just like fruits and vegetables found in boxes on the sidewalk in small European grocery stores. And there it was for less than £3. ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ has been on my TBR list for a long time, and I had to get it.
How many bookstores are there in this city?
Then there’s all these people studying everywhere. And they are not pretending; one can clearly see they are really trying to master something complicated. The funniest day, however, was when we went to this restaurant for lunch, and there it was, the funniest sigh ever.
In the same place, a girl at the table behind ours literally told her friend that she was staying for just one more hour, and then she would go to a pub and study there. I remember seeing people reading and studying in pubs in movies set in Oxford, but I honestly did not believe that was a real thing. Not only is it true, but it’s extremely prevalent and widespread.
However, books were not the only items I had a hard time packing. As you know, I still use an old iPod, and a few years ago I started a trend. Buying random used CDs at secondhand shops when traveling to different countries. Then, at home, ripping them and adding the songs to my iPod. Of course, I had to grab a couple on this trip as well. So far, only good surprises.
I had to turn down so many interesting titles like ‘Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory’s Power to Hold on to What Matters’ just because I didn’t have enough space. Yes, I’ll probably end up buying them online, but it’s not the same thing.
If you enjoy reading, you know what I’m talking about, and you should probably organize a trip to Oxford with time to spare in coffee shops and pubs. To read, of course. But remember to leave space in your bag for all the incredible books you’ll be almost forced to buy.
People will naturally gravitate towards something that makes them feel good. There is no need to lock me in with an algorithm or by throttling posts with links. Bluesky, thank you for constantly reinforcing my feeling of wanting to return by not controlling what I see.
I 💙 Chronology
If everyone who owns a domain name were to verify it as their Bluesky user, it would be much easier to tell which account is real and which is not. I’m confused as to why, especially corporations, organizations, etc., don’t do it from day zero. It’s so quick to do, and it makes all the difference.
Many years ago, long before the current Twitter drama, the company introduced an algorithmic feed. We were told that it was optional, but in reality, the app kept pushing us out of the chronological timeline. I remember hating that decision and implementation so much, and in hindsight, that was probably when my love for Twitter started fading away.
Threads’s approach is an even worse version of what Twitter started back then. That’s why I never liked it. Mastodon was my choice, as it had a chronological feed, but also because of the many cool things the ActivityPub protocol can enable.
Then came Bluesky. Why they didn’t choose to collaborate on the ActivityPub protocol instead of creating yet another one is beyond my comprehension. The good news is that the ATProto is also decentralized, at least as far as I can technically understand. But there’s more.
For some reason that I also don’t comprehend, people, institutions, and companies are recently choosing it as their new home. I know what triggered the move, but I’m not sure why Bluesky was the choice of so many people at the same time. Anyway, as I previously mentioned, that means that nearly half the users I was following on Twitter are now on Bluesky.
All the above means that I’m back to a feed that I absolutely enjoy. As you know, I’m a Timeline person. But I’m not only following posts happening in real time (a.k.a. in the correct order); I’m now interacting with others in a way I was missing without knowing.
By the way, I just created a Started Pack of some of the hardware and software I have in my Toolbox that have already joined Bluesky. If you don’t know what a Starter Pack is, please watch the video below.
I'm still perplexed as to why so many users are choosing Bluesky.
Please don’t get me wrong, I love that people are finally moving away from Twitter, and I do like Bluesky. However, I am still perplexed as to why so many users are choosing it at the same time. As I write this, Bluesky is about to reach 20,000,000 users, which in my case translates to nearly half the people I was following on Twitter. When I started using Mastodon, the number was considerably lower.
Speaking of which, I think Mastodon would be a better place for companies, news outlets, and institutions to be because of how servers work there, but perhaps Bluesky’s approach was a better one. Since there is currently only one server to choose from, it may be easier for people to understand it.
As for Threads, I don’t like the fact that they are constantly pushing the “For You” feed and are taking so long to properly join the Fediverse. It’s also important to keep in mind that it’s a Meta product.
I’ll still post on my blog first and from there automatically share on social media, but it’s great to see so much enthusiasm and so many people joining a decentralized platform.
Finally, if you are new to Bluesky, the video below will help you learn how verification works on the platform. Even if you are not planning to verify your account, I believe it’s important to know if you are actually following the real person or institution.
Bluesky User Count
I was considering the recent migration to Bluesky as a fad, but at the rate at which the Bluesky User Count number is growing, it will reach and exceed 19M users very soon. To give you some perspective, there are almost 11M ActivityPub users as of now.
Of course, if Threads was already fully integrated into the Fediverse, the situation would be entirely different. Which brings us to the question I’ve been asking myself for quite some time now: is Threads even serious about being part of the Fediverse?
Heads up! Starting with this post, I’m going to add a little mess to my online presence for a while. I’m trying out Microblog’s cross-posting feature to see if it works for me. The original posts added to vladcampos.com will be automatically shared on Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Mastodon.