Bluesky Adds Setting To Limit Posts Appearing In Discover Feed

Bluesky has introduced a privacy setting designed to give users more control over how widely their posts are surfaced on the platform.

The new option allows users to ask apps to hide their posts from algorithmic recommendations, preventing their posts from appearing in Bluesky’s Discover feed to people who do not already follow them.

The setting is available through Bluesky’s privacy controls and applies at account level rather than to individual posts. Once enabled, it therefore affects all of a user’s posts rather than allowing visibility to be adjusted on a post-by-post basis.

The Setting Limits Discover Visibility, Not Public Access

The change does not turn a Bluesky account into a private account. Bluesky does not currently offer private accounts, so posts remain publicly accessible even when the new recommendation setting is enabled.

There are also limits to how broadly the control can restrict distribution. Bluesky says the setting asks apps not to include a user's posts in algorithmic recommendations, meaning it cannot guarantee that posts will never appear in other algorithmically curated feeds or services built on the AT Protocol.

That distinction is important because the setting controls recommendation-based exposure rather than access to the posts themselves.

A New Option For Controlling Unintended Reach

Bluesky’s Discover feed is designed to help users find posts from accounts they do not already follow. That can increase the audience for individual posts, but it can also expose users to much larger audiences than they expected.

The new control gives users who do not want that additional exposure a way to reduce their presence in one of Bluesky’s principal recommendation surfaces. It may be particularly relevant to users concerned about a post unexpectedly reaching a wider audience and being interpreted outside its original context.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: X Says Chinese Bot Farm Used AI-Generated Content To Target Data Centres

Bluesky has not said that the setting will prevent posts from spreading through every possible recommendation system or third-party service using its protocol.

The company described the change as “one of a few updates we're working on to give you more control over your experience and help you find your people.” The statement indicates that further privacy-related controls are being considered, although Bluesky has not announced specific additional features.

What The New Control Does — And Does Not Do

In practical terms, the setting provides a narrower form of visibility control rather than conventional private-account functionality.

It does:

• Ask apps not to show the user’s posts to non-followers through algorithmic recommendations.
• Apply across the account rather than to selected individual posts.
• Reduce exposure through Bluesky’s Discover feed.

It does not:

• Make the account private.
• Make posts completely undiscoverable.
• Guarantee that posts will not appear in other algorithmically curated feeds or services using the AT Protocol.

The feature therefore gives Bluesky users another way to manage algorithmic distribution without changing the fundamentally public nature of their accounts.