A new paper examines blocking on Bluesky: "…blocking does not decrease the popularity and activity of the blocked users and has a limited effect on the social graph." There is a lot more nuance in here. h/t @index.internet.exchangepoint.tech.ap.brid.gy openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/36822/

A new paper examines blocking on Bluesky: "…blocking does not decrease the popularity and activity of the blocked users and has a limited effect on the social graph." There is a lot more nuance in here. h/t @index.internet.exchangepoint.tech.ap.brid.gy openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/36822/

So @safety.bsky.app has no problem with people repeatedly harassing and humiliating trans rape victims, but a blocklist that is helping trans people block people who participate in such behavior is against the rules. Got it. So much for "choose your own moderation."

For our first launch of the year, we're kicking off with more blocking features! Rolling out today: ATProto across Bluesky, Blacksky, and any other PDS can apply domain blocklists to Bridgy Fed. Blocks come with if you Bounce, and we even added a handy list of reputable blocklists to choose from.

Something interesting just happened that brings some questions I know @standard-reader.app respects Bluesky's blocks, and I've just seen it happening not allowing me to open an article from a person that I just found out is blocking me (from a mod list, not a big deal, I don't mind) But...

It is probably not great for the ecosystem that Custom Feeds are tied to people's personal accounts and thus affected by blocking.

"We should be able to have an open discussion about what's good science and freely critique bad research. No not you! You shouldn't be having an open discussion about what's good metascience or freely critique bad metaresearch. That's censorship." Idk about you folks but I'm tired of the bullshit.

"Don't Engage, Just Block" absolutely IS the Bluesky motto. The notion of a "Bluesky Elder" is vaguely ridiculous but the ONE THING that we oldheads are good for is telling the new folks that blocking without engagement is praxis, and encouraging them to do it early and often.

When Bluesky does open up and/or federates there will no doubt be an "eternal September"-equivalent rush of folks who won't know/won't care about the standards and practices. The good news is that blocking here is unusually powerful natively and the moderating toolset is increasingly robust.