A Bluesky pre-publish checklist

Bluesky rewards posts that feel considered, not polished. The audience is smaller than X's but reads closer — a sloppy post gets noticed, not scrolled past. Run through this before you hit post.

1. Does the first line stand on its own?

Bluesky doesn't truncate aggressively in the feed the way some apps do, but people still decide to expand a thread based on the opening line. Make sure it isn't a dangling half-sentence that only makes sense with the image attached.

2. Are you using alt text?

Bluesky's community leans accessibility-conscious, and alt text is visible and expected here in a way it isn't everywhere else. If you posted an image, write real alt text — describe what's in it, not just "image."

3. Did you check your character count against the real limit?

Bluesky posts cap at 300 characters. It's close enough to X's old limit that muscle memory from other platforms can trip you up — write the post, then actually look at the counter before publishing.

4. Are your hashtags doing anything?

Hashtags on Bluesky are more of a discovery convention within specific communities (tech, art, books) than a universal search mechanism. Skip them unless you're tagging into an active community thread — a hashtag salad reads as noise here more than most places.

5. Would this post make sense out of context?

Bluesky posts get quote-posted and reshared into different feeds and custom algorithms than the one you wrote for. If your post only makes sense to people who follow you, it won't travel.

6. Is this the right feed for the topic?

If you're active in specific custom feeds or communities, ask whether the post fits the norms there. A post that's fine on your main timeline can feel out of place dropped into a niche feed.

7. Did you proofread for tone, not just typos?

Bluesky's culture skews toward directness and a low tolerance for corporate-speak or forced enthusiasm. A post that reads as authentic on LinkedIn can read as try-hard here.

8. Are links going to unfurl correctly?

Paste the link into a test post first if you're unsure — some URLs generate an ugly or missing preview card. A broken unfurl makes an otherwise good post look unfinished.

9. Is your thread structured, if it's a thread?

Multi-post threads work well on Bluesky, but each post should be able to stand alone reasonably well since people can land on any post in the thread from a repost, not just the first one.

10. Would you be comfortable if this got quote-posted with commentary?

Bluesky's quote-post culture is active and often critical. Read your post one more time imagining someone disagreeing with it publicly — if that would embarrass you, it's worth a rewrite, not just a shrug.

Ten checks, thirty seconds, and most of the avoidable mistakes are caught before they're public.