The last two weeks has seen a surge in Bluesky usage. I’ve been on Bluesky a little since the early days. I liked the service, but I didn’t know any one there. That’s changed now and lots of friends are posting. That’s added a touch more complexity, so I figured I’d share how I’m handling my personal social media right now.

  1. I post everything to Micro.Blog. It shows up on bobwertz.com.
  2. Micro.Blog crossposts everything to Bluesky, Threads and Mastodon.
  3. I have notifications turned off on my iPhone, so I have no idea when people respond to what I post.
  4. I selectively choose when I want to engage with social media on whatever site feels right at the time.

A couple of random things I’ve noticed lately:

  1. My Instagram usage has dropped dramatically, probably because it isn’t tied in with my crossposting system. They don’t have a posting API, so no one can really add that connection. I like Instagram, but I don’t have time for everything.
  2. Cotton Bureau included one of my shirt designs in their 25% off sale. Normally, I would have helped promote on Instagram and Twitter, but I checked and they were on Bluesky and Threads. So I promoted it there. Companies used to do this kind of promotion on Twitter and Instagram. It’s nice to see them active on Bluesky and Threads.

I’m excited to see social media evolving and changing. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going and continue to move toward better, healthier online communities.

Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.