With the future of TikTok in the U.S. uncertain, it feels like major social media platforms are working overtime to release features that could entice millions of people looking to make the switch: Bluesky announced Sunday that it will announced the launch of a custom vertical video feed.
Bluesky’s mobile app now has a trending videos section under the (Explore) tab, and like other short video apps, you can swipe up to see more videos. You can pin a feed to display it on your home screen or add it to your list of feeds.
“We also needed to participate in video activities. Bluesky now has custom feeds for videos. Like any other feed, you can choose to pin these or not. Bluesky is your It depends,” the company said in a post.
Bluesky also confirmed that developers are building alternatives to TikTok on AT Protocol, the decentralized protocol behind Bluesky, including Tik.Blue, Skylight.Social, and Bluescreen.Blue. These apps are in the early stages of development and are running a closed testing program.
Against the backdrop of uncertainty surrounding TikTok and other ByteDance apps such as CapCut, Lemon8, and Marvel Snap, Bluesky has solidified its user base, surpassing 28 million users at the end of last week.
Other social networks are also taking advantage of this situation. Elon Musk-owned X has also launched a dedicated vertical video feed in the US, and Meta has announced a new video editing app called Edits that rivals CapCut.