Bluesky Introduces Group Chats as It Pivots Toward Community-Driven Features

Bluesky Takes a Community-First Approach With New Group Chat Feature

Bluesky has officially added group chats to its growing list of features, signaling a meaningful strategic pivot for the social platform as it works to distinguish itself from larger rivals like X and Meta's Threads.

The feature became available in version 1.124 of the app and allows users to create group conversations with up to 50 participants — a modest but significant step forward for a platform that only introduced basic messaging capabilities in 2024.

Catching Up to the Competition

While Elon Musk's X has aggressively expanded its messaging infrastructure — most recently launching a dedicated standalone app called XChat — Bluesky is now entering the group communication space on its own terms. X currently supports group chats of up to 1,000 members, so Bluesky's 50-person cap is considerably smaller. However, the company has indicated it may raise that limit down the road.

It's worth noting that Bluesky only recently introduced encrypted messaging, and even then it was achieved through an integration with third-party service Germ. The rollout of native group chats represents a more self-contained step forward.

A Strategic Shift Driven by Slowing Growth

Bluesky's user base currently sits at approximately 44.8 million registered accounts — a far cry from X's 600 million monthly active users. With overall growth showing signs of slowing, the company appears to be recalibrating its focus. Rather than competing head-to-head for mass audiences, Bluesky is leaning into the idea of fostering tighter, more engaged communities within its ecosystem.

Alex Benzer, Bluesky's head of product, outlined this vision in a series of recent posts. "Today, Bluesky is one big space. Communities will be smaller spaces inside that where you can go deeper and hang out with people who care about the same stuff," he explained. Benzer also emphasized that community features would be built on the platform's underlying AT Protocol, with support from the broader developer community.

How Group Chats Work

Group chat creators have full control over who can join their conversations. They can generate shareable invite links that can be distributed across the web or embedded directly in Bluesky posts as cards. On the other side, participants can configure their privacy preferences to determine who is allowed to add them to group chats — options include everyone, only people they follow, or no one at all. The default setting is "only people you follow."

One current limitation: media sharing is not yet supported in group chats. Bluesky says this functionality will require additional safety and moderation infrastructure before it can be introduced.

Filling the Gap Left by X's Communities Shutdown

The timing of Bluesky's community push is especially interesting given that X announced in April that it was discontinuing its Communities feature, citing low engagement and persistent spam problems. Bluesky appears poised to absorb users who valued that type of structured community experience but lost it when X pulled the plug.

Benzer confirmed that upcoming Bluesky communities will receive their own dedicated handles that double as URLs — for example, community-name.bsky.social or community-name.bsky.space. Communities will also be configurable as public, invite-only, or private, mirroring the flexibility offered by platforms like Facebook Groups and Reddit.

"On Bluesky, you'll be able to create communities, join them, post in them, and get updates," Benzer noted.

Betting on Open Technology and User Autonomy

At its core, Bluesky's community strategy is a bet that a growing number of users are disillusioned with Big Tech-owned platforms and are actively looking for alternatives that offer more transparency, control, and ownership over their online experience. By building on an open protocol and giving users genuine agency over their interactions, Bluesky hopes to attract those who feel underserved or mistreated by conventional social networks.

One More Addition: Personalized QR Codes

Alongside group chats, the latest Bluesky update also introduces personalized QR codes for profile sharing — a feature already common on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, but a welcome addition for users looking to grow their following more easily.