Bluesky Adds Group Chats as It Pushes Toward More Private, Community-Focused Social Networking
Bluesky is rolling out group chats, giving users a new way to connect privately and helping the platform compete more directly with larger social networks such as X.
The new feature arrives with version 1.124 of the Bluesky app and marks another step in the company’s broader plan to make the platform less about broadcasting to everyone and more about building smaller, more meaningful online communities.
Until now, Bluesky’s messaging tools were fairly limited. The platform introduced direct messaging in 2024, and encrypted chats arrived later through an integration with the third-party service Germ. With the latest update, users can now create group conversations with up to 50 participants.
That limit is modest compared with some rival platforms, but Bluesky says it may expand the number of participants in the future. For now, the feature is designed to give users a simple way to chat with friends, collaborators, fan groups, and communities without leaving the app.
Group chat creators will have control over who can join their conversations. They can create invite links and share them across the web, including inside Bluesky posts, where the links can appear as embedded cards.
Users also get privacy controls for invitations. They can choose whether everyone, only people they follow, or no one can invite them to group chats. By default, the setting will be limited to people a user follows, unless they have already chosen a different preference for direct messages.
One thing missing at launch is media sharing. Bluesky says sending images, videos, and other media inside group chats is not available yet because it requires stronger safety and moderation systems. That suggests the company is taking a cautious approach before expanding chat features further.
The launch comes at an important moment for Bluesky. The platform has grown to around 44.8 million registered users, but its expansion has slowed compared with the much larger scale of X, which has hundreds of millions of monthly active users. Instead of trying to win purely through size, Bluesky appears to be focusing on features that give people more control over how they interact online.
Alex Benzer, Bluesky’s head of product, recently described the platform’s future as being more community-driven. Rather than treating Bluesky as one large public space, the company wants to support smaller spaces where users can gather around shared interests, have deeper conversations, and feel more connected to the people they interact with.
The company is also working on broader community tools built on its underlying AT Protocol. In the future, users are expected to be able to create communities, join them, post inside them, and receive updates from them.
Bluesky’s planned communities may come with their own handles that work like web addresses, such as a custom community name followed by a Bluesky domain. These spaces may also offer different visibility settings, including public, invite-only, and private options. That would make them similar in concept to groups on other major platforms, while still fitting into Bluesky’s open social networking model.
This strategy arrives as some competing platforms have struggled with community features due to spam, low usage, or moderation challenges. Bluesky seems to be positioning itself as an alternative for users who want more control, better ownership of their online spaces, and a less chaotic social experience.
Alongside group chats, the latest Bluesky update also adds a new profile-sharing option using personalized QR codes. This makes it easier for users to quickly share their profiles in person, on other platforms, or through screenshots.
Bluesky’s group chat update may not be revolutionary on its own, but it signals where the platform is heading. The company is no longer only focused on public posting and timeline conversations. It is now building tools for smaller groups, private interaction, and community-based social networking.
For users looking for an alternative to traditional social media platforms, Bluesky’s latest update could make the app more appealing. Group chats, privacy controls, invite links, and upcoming community features all point toward a future where social networking feels more personal, flexible, and user-controlled.
