If you have just arrived on the Bluesky social network, a direct competitor of X (Twitter), you may feel a little lost. Indeed, the first thing to do to feel good on a social network is to find accounts to follow that match your interests… So, once you have looked around your friends and family, you certainly want to broaden your horizons and discover interesting accounts that you do not know. Because to be honest, the experience depends heavily on the people you choose to follow.
To do this, I have an online tool to offer you: Bluesky Network Analyzer. This free tool helps you discover relevant accounts based on your existing connections.
Bluesky Network Analyzer to discover new Bluesky accounts
Still largely at the artisanal stage, Bluesky opens its doors to independent developers so that they can create tools that are supposed to help us use the social network. This is what exploits Bluesky Network Analyzer which is responsible for analyzing your contact list on Bluesky to recommend accounts that are popular among your subscribers. Unlike traditional algorithms or searches based on general keywords, this tool focuses on your broader network: it shows accounts followed by people you already follow.
And you will be able to see that this tool is really easy to use to find friends on Bluesky:
- Access the website of Bluesky Network Analyzer.
- Enter your Bluesky username (user.bsky.social).
- Click on Analyze
- The tool scans your network and generates a list of recommended accounts, ranked by the number of common contacts.
Bluesky Network Analyzer goes beyond popular account recommendations. This tool offers filtering to prioritize niche accounts – these accounts, although having fewer followers, could be highly relevant for you. It's great for discovering really niche users or breaking out of the mainstream mold.
If you want, you can also provide an app password (generated on Bluesky as explained below) to be able to follow accounts directly from the tool. If this makes you cringe, don't worry: no sensitive data is sent to the server, it remains located on your device.
This option is particularly useful to save you time if you want to follow other accounts in bulk. You will only have to click on the Follow button next to the account name and Bluesky Network Analyzer will subscribe you to this account.
Generate an application password on Bluesky
Designed for openness, Bluesky allows you to give access to your account to third-party applications and tools using a password system application. This system is very convenient for extending the functionality of the network and allows you to revoke access to your account at any time if you no longer use an external application.
Here's what you need to do to create app password on Bluesky :
- Log in to your Bluesky account
- Go to Settings > Privacy and security > App passwords
- Click on Add an app password
- Enter a name to remember the application in question (for example, the name of the application you are giving access to your account)
- Click on Next to recover your application password
- And there you have it!
Note: It is not possible to recover your application password once you have completed the creation, so make a note of it! At worst, you will just have to regenerate one for the application.
Bluesky Network Analyzer: a breath of fresh air for a smooth arrival on Bluesky
Finally, Bluesky and tools like Bluesky Network Analyzer take me back a few years! If, like me, you spent years on X (which I still use, sometimes reluctantly), you will understand how nice it is to return to a more serene space. As an X user since 2009, I still have some of the recent developments stuck in my craw. The closing of APIs to developers is one of these developments that annoyed me… No longer possible to use artisanal tools external to Twitter that enriched the experience.
With Bluesky and tools like Network Analyzer, it's a pleasure to rediscover this official which invites you to explore and find a more authentic network. This allows you to rebuild, day after day, a community of enthusiasts and to enjoy peaceful exchanges again. It's a bit like returning to the origins of social networks, in what they have most human. And frankly, it feels good, doesn't it?
By the way, if you want to follow me on Bluesky, I'm here: @byothe.bsky.social !
