# How to grow on Bluesky in 2026: custom feeds, not an algorithm > Bluesky has no single ranking algorithm. Growth comes from custom feeds & reply-driven posting. Here is how that actually works, & how to schedule for it. - Published: 2026-09-26 - Last updated: 2026-09-26 - Author: Sanju (Founder & CEO @ DunSocial) - Topics: bluesky, how-to --- There is no single company-controlled algorithm deciding who sees your posts on Bluesky. The default timeline is chronological, & discovery beyond your followers runs through **custom feeds**, community-built lists that anyone can subscribe to around a topic, a niche, or a keyword. Growing on Bluesky means getting picked up by the feeds your audience already reads, not chasing an engagement score. ## Why there is no algorithm to game Bluesky runs on the open AT Protocol, & its "Discover" feed is only one of many ways people see content. Beyond it, tens of thousands of custom feeds exist, each with its own selection logic set by whoever built it: some pull in posts by hashtag or keyword, some by which accounts a moderator has approved, some blend both. Bluesky's own Series A announcement put the number of community-built feeds at over 50,000 as the platform passed 13 million users; it has since grown past 43 million users on the same feed-based discovery model. Bluesky also gives individual accounts more control over their own reach than most networks do. In August 2026 it added an algorithmic opt-out: a toggle in Privacy & Security that keeps a person's public posts out of the main Discover feed entirely, while leaving them visible to existing followers. It's not a privacy setting: posts stay public, & it just narrows who stumbles onto them outside your own network. The preference travels with the account across any AT Protocol app, not just Bluesky itself, though other apps have to choose to respect it. ## How custom feeds actually decide what surfaces A custom feed is closer to a saved search than a personalized "For You" page. Whoever built it picked the rules, & those rules do not change per viewer the way a proprietary ranking model does. Practically, that means: - **Specific, topic-relevant tags help.** Keyword-matching feeds rely on them more than any other signal you control. - **Each post has to stand alone.** Feed browsers rarely have the context of your last five posts, so a post that only makes sense as part of a thread you started elsewhere gets skipped. - **Regularity matters more than volume.** A feed's refresh cycle needs something recent from you to surface. One strong post a month reaches fewer people than a handful of smaller, consistent ones. - **Replies travel.** Many feeds surface active threads, not just standalone posts, so a genuine reply in your niche can reach further than a broadcast post. ## Schedule for a chronological, always-on feed Bluesky has no built-in way to queue a post ahead of time: everything goes out live from the app the moment you write it. That is a minor annoyance for one account & a real gap once Bluesky is one of several networks on your plate, because "post consistently" is exactly what custom-feed discovery rewards, & consistency is hard to keep up by hand across platforms. DunSocial schedules directly to Bluesky on the same calendar as your other networks, so it stops being the one account you forget to open. AI Memory carries your saved brand facts & a Voice Preset into a Bluesky draft the same way it does for any other platform, & nothing goes out until you confirm it. For the full rundown of what that looks like, see [best social media scheduler for Bluesky](/blog/best-social-media-scheduler-for-bluesky). ## FAQ ### What is a custom feed on Bluesky? A community-built, topic- or keyword-based timeline that any user can subscribe to. Feeds are built independently, on the open AT Protocol, & each sets its own rules for which posts it surfaces, unlike a single company-controlled ranking algorithm. ### Does Bluesky have any algorithm at all? The default timeline is chronological. The optional "Discover" feed does rank posts, but as of August 2026 any account can opt its posts out of it entirely through a Privacy & Security setting. Custom feeds run on rules their own builders set, not a single company-wide model. ### How often should you post on Bluesky? Aim for daily or near-daily. Because the default timeline is chronological & custom feeds refresh on recent activity, a quiet account simply surfaces less, in followers' timelines & in the feeds that might otherwise pick it up. ### Can you schedule posts to Bluesky? Not natively. Posts go out live from Bluesky's own app or site. DunSocial adds Bluesky to the same scheduling calendar as your other platforms, so you are not switching to a separate app to keep it active. ### Can I review a Bluesky post before it goes live? Yes. Every AI-assisted draft, Bluesky included, waits for you to confirm before anything schedules or publishes. Nothing DunSocial writes goes out on its own. ## Sources - [Bluesky Series A announcement](https://bsky.social/about/blog/10-24-2024-series-a): over 50,000 custom feeds, 13M+ users at the time - [Bluesky Series B announcement](https://bsky.social/about/blog/03-19-2026-series-b): growth to 43M+ users on the same feed-based model - [TechCrunch: Bluesky adds an algorithmic opt-out feature](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/27/bluesky-adds-an-algorithmic-opt-out-feature-for-those-who-dont-want-to-go-viral/): the Discover feed opt-out, August 2026 --- ## About this document This is the Markdown representation of https://www.dunsocial.com/blog/grow-on-bluesky-custom-feeds-2026. The HTML version of the same page is at the same URL. You can also request Markdown from any page by sending `Accept: text/markdown`. Machine-readable summary of the whole site: https://www.dunsocial.com/llms.txt ## Company - Product: DunSocial, https://www.dunsocial.com - Legal entity: THISUX PRIVATE LIMITED, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - Support: support@dunsocial.com - Open the app: https://app.dunsocial.com/login