[15][16][17] The AT Protocol offers a domain-name–based handle system within Bluesky, allowing users to self-verify an account's legitimacy and identity by proving ownership of a domain name.

[19][20] Development for the social app accelerated in 2022 after Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter and subsequent severing of ties between the companies.

[19][28] The stated goal was to find or develop an open and decentralized standard for social media that would give users more control over their data and experience.

[31] In early 2021, Bluesky was in a research phase, with 50 people from the decentralized technology community active in assessing options and assembling proposals for the protocol.

[29] This ultimately led to the hiring of Jay Graber in August 2021 to lead the Bluesky project and the development of the "Authenticated Data Experiment" (ADX), a custom-built protocol made for the purpose of decentralization.

[22] Bluesky Social became a benefit corporation in February 2022, with the mission to "develop and drive large-scale adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation".

[48] On July 5, 2023, Bluesky Social announced it had raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Neo.

[49] Bluesky Social pledged to use the funds to grow its team, manage operations, pay for infrastructure costs, and further develop the AT Protocol.

[51] The controversy led to a public apology from Bluesky Social, an update to the platform's terms of service specifying a prohibition of conduct that "targets people based on their race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation", and the establishment of a trust and safety team within the company.

In December 2023, Bluesky Social announced a company logo to replace the previous use of a cloudy sky stock image, which was also used as the icon for the official app and website.

[56][57] Bluesky has experienced several bursts of expansion and contraction following its public launch, mainly in relation to controversies and changes at Twitter.

[58][59] Bluesky saw a large influx of registrations by Japanese-speaking users soon after public launch, partly driven by notable Japanese social media personalities such as artist Ui Shigure registering accounts in the platform.

[24] Dorsey had previously deleted his account from the platform and vouched his support for both Twitter and Nostr, another decentralized protocol.

[81][82] While growth was primarily driven by Western European and American users, popularity of the platform rose in East Asian countries like Japan as well.

[83] The platform has also seen a rise in popularity in Poland after the country's current Prime Minister Donald Tusk joined in November 2024.

In late 2024, members of the board of directors included Graber, Jeremie Miller, Mike Masnick, and Kinjal Shah.

[11] As of November 2024, most components of the protocol are either only available from Bluesky Social or need to operate with services run by the company to connect to the network, including the main Decentralized Identifier namespace used for almost all accounts that relies on a directory containing all identities and their core information.

Frequent users have called posts on the platform "skeets", a portmanteau of "sky" and "tweets", despite CEO Jay Graber's vigorous disapproval of the term.

"[15] Third-party tools to publish Custom Feeds on Bluesky have been created by independent developers, including a popular client named Skyfeed.

[97] Bluesky Social claims that an aim to "not be controlled by a single company" is furthered by a composable user experience, "stackable" moderation, and algorithmic choice.

Similar to Twitter and Threads' trending features, this allows users to see words or phrases that are currently unusually popular.

[106] Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar originally signed up in April 2023 and at the time declared Bluesky "quiet, reserved, thoughtful, or even polite.

[107] Another review posted the same month highlighted key differences between Bluesky and Twitter, particularly in the level of control provided to users.

Bluesky allows users to filter content and select algorithms through customizable feeds, and also incorporates features to combat harassment, including a traditional block function and anti-toxicity tools, such as the ability to detach a post from being quoted by others.

[108] Jason Perlow of ZDNet wrote "It's not a direct replacement for Twitter (X), but Bluesky has a lot to offer those who want a fresh start in a decentralized, privacy-minded network."