Bluesky’s latest update addresses an important verification problem

Bluesky has rolled out an update that fixes one vital problem that might lead to impersonation on the decentralized social community. Now, while you confirm your id on the platform with your individual area, Bluesky will now not unencumber your previous .bsky.social username. Up to now, going via the authentication course of will make your authentic .bsky.social identify out there once more, which suggests you will have to enroll once more to safe your previous deal with if you don’t need impersonators to scoop it up.

The social community has been attempting to repair its verification points, which grew to become a major downside after the service welcomed an influx of new users in latest months. A 3rd-party entity from Cornell Tech who analyzed the app’s userbase beforehand discovered that 44 p.c of Bluesky’s 100 most-followed accounts have a doppelganger. As a response, Bluesky adopted a extra aggressive impersonation coverage and required parody, satire or fan accounts to label themselves as such in each their handles and their bio in late November. It additionally explicitly prohibited id churning, during which customers would begin off as impersonators to realize followers after which swap their id later to keep away from enforcement motion.

Along with reserving your previous deal with, the up to date Bluesky app provides a “Mentions” tab in notifications, making it a lot simpler to seek out replies to your posts. As The Verge notes, it additionally has a brand new button that allows you to select how replies present up, so you possibly can select to see them in a linear order or in threaded discussions.