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Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Guide

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Media monitoring helps organizations stay informed about what’s being said across online news, print, broadcast, podcasts, and other media channels. Whether you're tracking brand mentions, measuring PR performance, monitoring competitors, or identifying emerging trends, our expert guides, best practices, and industry insights will help you build a smarter media monitoring strategy and make more informed communications decisions.

Discover expert media monitoring guides, best practices, and industry insights to track brand mentions, monitor competitors, and stay ahead of the news.

Media Monitoring: Guides, Best Practices & Industry Insights

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.

Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?

The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

How do customers interact with my newly launched product?

How do I increase the productivity of my employees?

How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?

We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.

So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.

But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!

But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.

We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

AI adoption is no longer the challenge—trusted context is. Most organizations have AI tools, but many still rely on disconnected, stale, or unverified data, limiting the quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated outputs. Meltwater MCP brings trusted, real-time intelligence into AI assistants.

Your Best Context is Already in the Room

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIn to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Can you make money on TikTok? The short answer is yes! Content creators and brands alike can use TikTok as a revenue stream, whether you’re marketing your own products or another brand, or just creating great content.

Some TikTokers have made millions of dollars from the platform. The top 50 creators have amassed a collective $720 million in 2024, with more than 2.75 billion combined followers. A platform this size offers ample opportunities for other creators to join the conversation and grab a slice of a massive multi-million-dollar pie.

Now that you know you can make money on TikTok, let’s explore your next objective: How do you make money on TikTok?

Why TikTok Is a Powerful Platform for Making Money

How Many Followers Do You Need to Make Money on TikTok?

Growing Your TikTok Presence with Klear by Meltwater

TikTok is a goldmine for influencer marketing. It’s a place where viewers come to be inspired and entertained. Guards come down and viewers are more receptive to hearing from brands and companies. (Dare we say they even enjoy it?)

With more than a billion TikTok users and counting, TikTok is a place where your target audience already is. It’s where trends are born and content goes viral. And unlike other social media platforms that reward polished, professional content, TikTok praises authenticity.

Also consider its unique algorithm. You don’t need a huge audience, or even a single follower, to get views. The “For You” page can help you catapult your way to success just by putting you in front of viewers. There’s not much guesswork involved, and anyone can start posting content and earning views in minutes.

How Much Does TikTok Pay Per 1,000 Views?

Just how much money can you make on TikTok? It varies.

TikTok doesn’t have a set dollar amount based on the number of views. Creators have reported earning anywhere from $0.02 to $0.04 per 1,000 views, which isn’t much if you’re only getting 1,000 views.

But if you’re getting a million views, that comes out to about $2,000 to $4,000. 

Also, it’s worth noting that TikTok considers a “view” at least one second of play time. That’s a huge difference compared to YouTube, where users have to watch at least 30 seconds to be counted as a view. 

This means if someone stumbles upon your content, you’re basically getting a view even if the user doesn’t engage with you or doesn’t finish watching your content.

So, to answer the question, “How much money do you make on TikTok?”, it largely depends on you. If you can be authentic, creative, and consistent, you can usually make money on TikTok.

TIP: Want to learn how to get more views on your TikTok content? Check out our blog The Best TikTok Hashtags for More Views, complete with an AI chatbot that will generate strategic hashtags for your content in an instant!

Want to know how to make money on TikTok without followers? Technically, you don’t need followers. Anyone can post content on behalf of a brand to collect affiliate sales or promote sponsored content.

However, follower size can help you get brand partnerships because it makes you look like a safer bet. 

Also, if you want to join the TikTok Creator Fund, you’ll need at least 10,000 real followers. We’ll discuss more about the Creator Fund in a moment.

If you want to make money on TikTok, one of your goals should be to get more followers. The more followers you have, the better you’ll look to brand partners. You’ll also be likely to get in front of more viewers and keep them coming back to your content. 

TIP: If you need more TikTok followers, don't miss our blog 37 Tips for How to Get More TikTok Followers!

There’s more than one way to make money on TikTok. It’s best not to put all your eggs in one basket, especially since TikTok gives you multiple baskets on a silver platter. Let’s explore four of the best ways to make money on TikTok.

The most straightforward way to make money on TikTok is to promote products you want to sell for a profit. If you’re a brand, these might be your own products; your content drives viewers to your website to make a purchase.

Or, if you’re an influencer, you can promote products for brand partners or affiliates. You might use an affiliate link to drive sales or a unique promo or discount code that will attribute the sale to you.

TikTok Live is another feature that’s prime for direct sales. Similar to going live on Facebook or Instagram, you can livestream yourself on TikTok as you promote a product or service. 

Knowing how to make money on TikTok Live means having a “stage presence,” being able to interact with viewers (e.g., answer questions in the chat), and build instant trust so they will act on your offer.

Similar to Instagram, TikTok lets you post text alongside the video. You can include captions, hashtags to help people find your content, and links to encourage purchases.

TIP: Be sure to check out our article detailing how to grow your audience on TikTok Live!

TikTok wants creators to thrive on its platform and will gladly reward anyone who brings traffic and engagement. The TikTok Creator Fund essentially pays you for your content based on the number of views (measured per 1000 views).

You’ll have to apply to join the Creator Fund and meet the following eligibility requirements:

Be an individual or entity in the United States

Have an active TikTok account in good standing

At least 100K video views in the last 30 days

At least one linked digital payment account

How do you make money on TikTok with the Creator Fund? It’s a numbers game. The more views you get, the more money you earn. You can increase your chances of getting views by creating great content, using appropriate hashtags, and encouraging people to share it.

3. Partner with brands on sponsored content

Anyone can post content to promote a brand on TikTok. But sponsored content is different.

Sponsored content is paid directly from a brand to a creator in exchange for content. Essentially, it’s user-generated content for the brand, but it’s also content for the creator’s channel, giving them a way to stay engaged with their audience. This content will be marked as sponsored content somewhere on the post. 

Influencers on TikTok with lots of followers may have an easier path in securing sponsored content deals. More followers mean more potential viewers. It also indicates you’re creating high-quality content people want to see, so brands might feel more inclined to work with you.

Creators can earn additional revenue from viewers in the form of tips and gifts. This is a unique feature to the TikTok platform compared with other social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter. 

Tips and gifts can be hit or miss, so it’s not a reliable source of income. Again, you can increase your chances of earning revenue by increasing your follower count.

TikTok has major earning potential, especially if you excel at creating authentic, honest content. 

Now that you know how to make money on TikTok, use these tips to improve your revenue chances:

Focus on a niche. Building content around a niche will help you attract more followers who care about those topics and will be likely to share your videos with others and come back for more content.

Get verified. Verified TikTok accounts build trust, and you can if you meet certain eligibility criteria. (See our guide on how to get verified on TikTok.)

Post consistently. You don’t have to post daily, but be consistent about producing new content so your audience will have something new to engage with.

Remember, the answer to the question “How many followers on TikTok to make money?” is zero, so don’t let a lack of followers hold you back. Use these revenue stream ideas and tips to start growing your TikTok account.

Growing Your TikTok Presence with Meltwater

Knowing how to get paid on TikTok can inspire your content strategy. Whether you’re promoting your own brand, working with influencers, or forming new brand partnerships, TikTok can become a revenue stream and help you earn an ROI from the content you’re creating.

Meltwater’s platform helps you monitor TikTok.

Learn more when you request a demo by filling out the form below!

How to Make Money on TikTok: A Comprehensive Guide

Note: This blog is based on the Global Digital Report 2024 – produced in partnership with Meltwater and We Are Social. See Simon Kemp's article about The Changing World of Digital in 2024. Download the Global Digital Report 2024 and the Global Digital Report 2023 for free.

The social media landscape in Southeast Asia is among the most dynamic in the world, where being online is deeply embedded into daily life. For businesses, understanding social media trends in Southeast Asia is key to crafting effective campaigns. Success lies not just in knowing where audiences are active but also in understanding why they engage—whether to connect, discover products, or make purchases—as Southeast Asia’s unique cultural dynamics shape online behavior.

Southeast Asia's rapid internet and mobile usage growth sets it apart as a young and digitally savvy social media market. Globally, people spend an average of 3 hours and 45 minutes daily on the internet via their mobile phones. Comparatively, social media users in Southeast Asia far exceed this average, with countries like the Philippines (5 hours and 30 minutes), Thailand (4 hours and 56 minutes), Malaysia (4 hours and 39 minutes), and Indonesia (4 hours and 32 minutes) leading the pack. Ultimately, mobile devices are an extension of Southeast Asian social media users' fingertips.

Key platforms driving social media trends in Southeast Asia

Emerging social media trends in Southeast Asia

How businesses can adapt to social media trends in Southeast Asia

How Meltwater keeps brands ahead of social media

Facebook and Instagram remain dominant in Southeast Asia's social media landscape, while TikTok steadily rises to complete the trio of the most popular platforms in the region. With 64.3% of Southeast Asians actively using social media, these platforms are integral in creating digital engagement in Southeast Asia.

Facebook leads the pack due to its vast user base and engagement. Facebook ads reach 17.2% of all Southeast Asians, with staggering engagement among users aged 18+. The Philippines leads with a remarkable 113% reach, followed by Vietnam (101%), Malaysia (85.8%), Thailand (84.3%), and Singapore (72.2%). This trend reflects Facebook’s staying power and the common practice of managing multiple accounts for personal, business, or niche interests. Vietnam stands out further, with users averaging 24 hours and 11 minutes on Facebook each month, showcasing their reliance on the social media platform.

Instagram also continues to be popular in the social media scene. Ads on Instagram reach 59.2% of adults in Singapore, 55% in Malaysia, 46.4% in Indonesia, and 30.3% in Thailand—exceeding the global average of 28.1%. While Instagram traditionally finds more significant success in developed Western nations, Singapore’s highly developed digital economy explains its dominance here. 

Meanwhile, TikTok continues to thrive with its engaging short-form content. Indonesia (40 minutes, 34 seconds), the Philippines (40 minutes, 3 seconds), Malaysia (39 minutes, 43 seconds), and Thailand (35 minutes, 29 seconds) rank among the top globally in monthly TikTok usage. The shift toward video-centric platforms marks a significant social media trend in Southeast Asia; TikTok’s endless short-form content conveyor belt continues to be a massive hit among audiences across the region. 

The social media users in Southeast Asia go beyond scrolling, using platforms for communication, sharing, and connecting with loved ones. It’s a space to discuss local news, share funny videos, and stay in touch. Messaging apps like WhatsApp are vital, especially in Indonesia, which logs 1,374.3 monthly WhatsApp sessions—well above the global average of 930 and the second highest worldwide.

Filipinos spend an average of 3 hours and 33 minutes daily on social media, followed by Indonesia (3:08), Malaysia (2:47), and Thailand (2:29), all well above the global average of 2:19. Beyond connecting with loved ones, social media is reshaping shopping, fueling a social commerce boom. It’s a powerful tool for discovering, engaging, and reaching untapped markets, giving brands valuable moments to make an impression each minute a user is online.

The numbers back it up: Southeast Asian social media users are setting the global standard for online shopping. Thailand tops the world in weekly online purchases, with 66.6% of internet users shopping online, followed closely by the Philippines (59.7%), Malaysia (59.6%), Vietnam (59%), and Indonesia (56%). These figures demonstrate social commerce's importance, offering convenience for essential purchases and inspiring impulse buys through well-timed ads. Social media is no longer just a space for connection—it’s a marketplace anyone can access anytime.

Beyond facilitating transactions, social media in Southeast Asia plays a crucial role in product research and brand discovery. Vietnam leads this trend, with 83% of users conducting research via social platforms, followed by Indonesia (82.1%), the Philippines (79.4%), and Malaysia (73.9%). Social commerce is the new form of window shopping for consumers — if your marketing campaigns are eye-catching and compelling, you’re likely to convert browsers into buyers.

As Southeast Asians increasingly turn to social media for brand discovery and research, businesses must tailor their social commerce strategies with features like in-app shopping, free delivery, vouchers, and discounts to drive engagement and build trust in seamless, convenient shopping.

Localization such as creating segmented ads, researching strategic influencer partnerships, understanding your audience's preferences, and aligning with cultural distinctions can make all the difference in Southeast Asia's saturated markets. The Philippines leads globally in influencer engagement, with 44.6% of adults following influencers on social media. Indonesia (31.1%), Malaysia (28.7%), and Thailand (24.1%) also demonstrate strong tendencies to follow opinion leaders, making influencer marketing a powerful driver of sales. Collaborating with influencers who make sense for your brand allows businesses to create authentic campaigns that build personal and relatable connections.

With the preference for mobile shopping in Southeast Asia, brands must optimize for mobile-first experiences with visually appealing ads, easy navigation, and seamless checkout. Ultimately, prioritizing convenience and authenticity is key to capturing and retaining Southeast Asia’s engaged online audiences.

Succeeding in Southeast Asia’s ever-evolving social media landscape requires more than intuition—it requires data-driven strategies and real-time insights. Meltwater equips brands with the tools to stay ahead by tapping into the latest social media conversations and trends across Southeast Asia.

With Meltwater’s comprehensive social listening capabilities, businesses can monitor discussions on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, analysing key trends, consumer sentiment, and competitor activities to refine their social commerce strategies. Meltwater helps businesses connect authentically with Southeast Asia’s social media users by identifying influencers, optimizing mobile content, and leveraging localized insights to craft impactful campaigns.

Tip: Learn how to find social media trends yourself.

Would you like to be able to compile data like we've used for these social media statistics for Southeast Asia yourself? Simply fill out the form below for a free tour of our Meltwater Social Media Monitoring Suite:

Social Media Trends and Habits in Southeast Asia

Bluesky has been getting a lot of media attention recently, so it’s no surprise that people are wondering how it compares to Twitter/X. The two micro-blogging platforms share a lot of similarities, but also differ in some important ways, and in this blog we’ll explain exactly how they stack up against each other. 

Twitter, Bluesky, and their Shared History

If Bluesky and Twitter seem to have a lot in common, it’s because Bluesky started life as an internal project at Twitter in 2019. The idea behind the project was to create a social media service like Twitter/X that could be open source and decentralized, rather than being owned and managed by a single corporate entity. 

The result of this experiment was the AT Protocol, a kind of standard framework that can be used by anybody to build decentralized and interoperable social media platforms. Bluesky was built by Twitter/X as an initial proof-of-concept to show how the AT Protocol could work, and eventually in 2021 it was spun out into an independent company called Bluesky Social PBC (Public Benefit Company). 

Both platforms offer the same essential functionality. Users can post their own content (text, images, video) which is displayed on a timeline on their own profile page, which can include a bio, profile picture, and header image. 

Posts on Twitter/X can be 280 characters in length, or up to 25,000 for X Premium subscribers, while Bluesky offers no similar premium subscription service, and all users face the same 300 character limit for their posts. Posts can include dynamic mentions of other users on each platform, by prefacing their username with the @ symbol, and users can reply to each other’s posts to create discussion threads, or simply repost to their own timelines. 

Both platforms also provide users with a timeline consisting of content from other users - either those you have chosen to follow, or those the algorithm thinks you might like. Other similarities include the use of hashtags to categorize and discover posts on related topics, and the ability to create lists of users.

So, in terms of the microblogging fundamentals, Bluesky and Twitter/X offer similar capabilities. 

Once you look beyond those basic features it becomes clear that Twitter/X is a much more mature platform than Bluesky, and offers a far richer feature-set. For example, Twitter/X has great Trending Topics functionality that shows you what’s happening around the world, in real-time, which is part of what helps it to deliver on its promise of being the world’s Town Square.


Bluesky has only just added a beta version of its own Trending Topics feature, and at present it feels much more basic, with limited results and no ability to focus on local trends rather than global. 

Twitter/X also offers a far wider range of content types for users. This includes relatively simple things, such as the ability to add polls to posts, through to more sophisticated formats such as Spaces, which are audio discussions that can be live-streamed to a wide audience. Users can also easily live-stream video through their profile. 

A key difference between the two services is how verification works. On Twitter/X anybody can get a verified “Blue Tick” if they subscribe to the premium service. On Bluesky, verification is only available to people who own their own website or URL, and the process works by changing your Bluesky handle to the URL of your website. 

The main difference between the two social networks is in their user-base. Twitter/X has been around since 2006 and has had plenty of time to build up a substantial number of users, currently estimated to be at around 336 million, whereas Bluesky has around 25 million. 

Due to the network effect, this means it’s easier to build up a following on Twitter/X simply because it has significantly more people using it. New users to Bluesky will find that it can take longer to find an audience, and consequently engagement will be much lower than they might expect from other social channels. 

At present, Bluesky is essentially a basic version of Twitter/X with a much smaller user community, and for that reason brand social media managers may see limited value in it. However, Bluesky is gradually attracting an increasing number of users who are looking for a different experience to other more established social platforms, so it’s certainly worth experimenting with. 

Bluesky Vs Twitter/X, What’s the Difference?

Microblogging platform, Bluesky, is the hot new thing all of a sudden. 

But we don’t mean hot like TikTok, with hundreds of millions of new Gen - Z users, because Bluesky hasn’t passed 25 million users yet. And it’s not exactly new either, since it’s been around for close to five years now. 

No, this is a different kind of hot. This kind of hot is your favorite writers, journalists, academics, researchers, actors, artists, creators, comedians and other people of note all suddenly choosing to hang out there. 

Bluesky hasn’t enjoyed the sheer explosion of user numbers that we’ve seen on apps like TikTok, but since November it’s seen a surge in popularity amongst the kind of people who have something interesting to say, and prefer to say it in pithy, short-form posts. 

Since Twitter underwent significant changes following its sale in 2022, some users decided that it wasn’t the right platform for them any more, and began looking for an alternative with similar functionality. For a while, they were spoiled for choice, with lots of new microblogging platforms sprouting up and hoping to become serious rivals to Twitter. 

Many of them withered on the vine, but a few managed to keep going long enough to attract a big enough user base to sustain them. Mastodon got a lot of attention as a potential Twitter alternative, but the user experience was just a bit too clunky and many people found it confusing. Current user numbers for Mastodon are around 10 million. 

Threads, on the other hand, was everything you’d expect from Meta, slick, nicely designed, and easy to get to grips with. By integrating it lightly with Instagram, Meta was able to drive significant user growth, and the platform currently has 275 million users, making it the closer competitor to Twitter in terms of sheer volume. 

That’s more than ten times the number of users that Bluesky currently has, so why are some people choosing Bluesky over Threads? Let’s look more closely at what the platform offers. 

Bluesky is a micro-blogging platform where users can publish posts of up to 300 characters, along with images and videos. Your timeline offers a lot of different options, but at its most basic you can choose a simple feed of the most recent posts from the accounts you follow in reverse chronological order, just like things used to be in the early days of social media. This simplicity is popular among a lot of users who don’t like the new era of algorithm-driven timelines. 

There’s also the Discover timeline (or Feed, as they’re called on Bluesky) which uses an algorithm to suggest stuff it thinks you’ll be interested in. But one of the clever things about Bluesky is that anybody can create a custom Feed, based on their own algorithm, which can be shared with other users. There’s the What’s Hot feed which shows popular content, the BookSky feed for people who love reading, the Popular With Friends feed that shows you content that was liked by the people you follow, and hundreds more covering a wide variety of topics.

You can select which Feeds to add to your profile, and easily swipe between them. When you open the app (web or mobile) it defaults to whichever feed you were looking at the last time you used the app. There’s also a lot of flexibility in how replies, threads, reposts and quote-posts are displayed in your timelines, so you can easily set things up just the way you like. 

Hashtags can be used to signify that a post is relevant to a particular topic, and clicking a hashtag will show you all other posts that use it, which can be sorted by popularity or recency. 

Bluesky has recently added a beta version of its Trending Topics system to help you discover the big discussion points of the day, but it's still quite rudimentary and of limited use. 

Account profiles are straight-forward - you get a profile picture, banner image, a display name that doesn’t have to be your real name, and a 256 character bio. You can set up multiple profiles that can be managed from the same account, which is useful if you want to keep a professional and personal account separate but easily accessible. 

There’s no blue-tick style verification system, but anybody who owns a web domain name can easily configure Bluesky to use their domain name as their Bluesky handle. For example, Netflix uses the handle @netflix.com. This works as a de-facto verification system because only the owner of a domain name can perform the necessary setup to use it as their Bluesky profile name. 

Bluesky feels much closer to the original Twitter user experience, whereas Threads has a very different look and feel. But more importantly, although much harder to quantify, the vibe is just different. 

Threads grew very quickly by driving users across from Instagram, and the community which developed there can feel like an extension of Instagram. That’s not to say it isn’t a fun place to spend time, and there are lots of high-profile accounts on Threads that help make it an entertaining social media experience, but for anybody who spent a long time on Twitter, it just isn’t the same. 

Even though Twitter didn’t migrate users to Bluesky, the two platforms are cut from the same cloth, and that’s immediately apparent when you start using Bluesky, both in terms of the interface and the kind of community it has attracted. On Bluesky, you’re more likely to find historians and authors chatting and joking with each other about a big news story, for example, while on Threads you’re more likely to see big-brand accounts jumping on viral trends.

If Instagram is a fashionable nightclub, then Threads is a raucous bar, and Bluesky is a dinner party full of people you find really interesting. 

One of the things that really helps create this kind of environment on Bluesky is “Starter Packs” which are curated lists of accounts that anybody can build, and they’re usually focused on a specific area of interest. Whether you’re into history, current affairs, science, standup comedy, or whatever else, there’s a good chance that some kind Bluesky has already built a Starter Pack featuring all the best profiles for you to follow. 

This helps new users immediately start getting value from the platform, because you don’t have to spend a lot of time looking for profiles that match your interests. This means new users aren’t faced with a barren timeline, which is one of the main challenges of convincing people to continue using a social media site after they set up an account, and they instantly feel like there’s an interesting community to participate in. 

In 2019 Bluesky started life as an internal project at Twitter, with the aim of building a decentralized social media platform. This was born out of a recognition that, while Twitter was becoming a valuable and popular communications channel for sharing live, real-time updates with the world, the fact that it was owned and operated by a single organization made it vulnerable.

A decentralized Twitter-like platform would work more like the Internet itself, built on open-source protocols which allow the overall network to continue working if one part of it fails, or even if a particular platform, such as Bluesky itself, were to collapse. 

The result of this project was the AT Protocol, an open-source social networking standard which would allow users to easily move all of their data (profile, content, connections) between different platforms, and for developers to build a more robust, decentralized social-web. Bluesky itself was built as a proof-of-concept for the AT Protocol, to show that it could work.

As of 2024, the AT Protocol is still under active development and has not yet been broadly adopted outside of Bluesky itself. But that hasn’t stopped Bluesky from attracting a lot of attention and a steadily growing user base. 

In 2021 Bluesky was spun out from Twitter as Bluesky Social PBC, an independent Public Benefit Company which is a specific type of business where directors are not only accountable to their shareholders, but are also required to make a positive impact on society. The company is now owned by CEO, Jay Graber, and several other employees. In Bluesky’s case, its stated social mission is to “develop and drive large-scale adoption of technologies for open and decentralized public conversation.”

If you’re a brand social media manager wondering whether it’s worth investing resources in Bluesky, there’s no real reason not to start experimenting with it. If you’re already creating content for X/Twitter or Threads, then it’s going to be very easy to simply repurpose that content for Bluesky. 

While there might be some additional work involved in community management on the platform, the relatively low user numbers mean that should be minimal for the time being. As the platform grows, you can make a value judgement about whether any increase in reach and engagement it offers is a worthwhile return on investment.

At the moment, not many brands are active on Bluesky, so there's a good chance that early adopters can make an impact and build a following among the platform's fans. 

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