Bluesky — Embracing Change and Domain as Your Handle

When Jack Dorsey departed from Twitter, it was passed into the greasy hands of another billionaire who turned it into a cesspool.

I don’t have anything against billionaires. Let them have their money; just do good with it, not harm. This reminds me of the meme that rings true for every hard-working person:

“Most people don’t want to be rich. They just want enough money to not worry anymore.”

I ended my experience with this platform in December 2022 and stuck to places that do not contribute to anxiety or negatively impact my mental health.

A lot of people felt the same and moved to Mastodon instances or Facebook-owned (Meta) Threads.

Luckily, the Meta team still care about some kind of moderation of the rubbish people publish there. Hence, with the right type of followers, you may only see things you want to read or view.

This may start to change in the near future, as Meta has already announced that they are planning to implement ads into the feeds. Consequently, things may become as unpleasant as they currently are on Facebook.

In my case, this excludes the Facebook platform itself, as their main platform pisses me off daily with its terrible recommendations, time-stealing reels, and ads in every other post.

There is so much rubbish happening on Facebook that I rarely see posts from my friends in my group. Because of that, I use it for specific things and try not to spend too much time there, as it can easily pull me into a rabbit hole. Before I realise it, I’ve lost an hour of my time in this world.

With our limited time here, I’ve started to care a bit more — especially since I turned 40 — about what is truly important in life.

Going back to the beginning.

Jack Dorsey, when he decided to start Bluesky, reminded me of another meme that recently crossed my path:

“Don’t be afraid to start over. This time, you’re not starting from scratch; you’re starting from experience.”

I must admit, with all the chaos happening in America recently — and what will continue to unfold over the next four years — we’ve noticed another wave of well-meaning people ending their experience with “X” (formerly Twitter).

We saw the first exodus of users back when Starman took over, and now we’re seeing another wave as chaos reigns on the platform.

This time, people are joining Bluesky, and it’s not just lesser-known individuals. Companies like Australian Airlines are seizing the opportunity to leave toxic environments with a clever twist (“We took a moment to locate our nearest X-it”). Even major news organisations, such as The Guardian, have realised that the platform’s environment no longer aligns with their values.

Despite being on Threads as well, I decided to join Bluesky to see how Jack’s “experience” will serve the greater good and, hopefully, bring an end to the dead bird once and for all.

When I created my account, I chose my username, which was attached to the domain .bsky.social, creating so-called “handles” like @idarek.bsky.social.

Shortly after, an article in my feed caught my eye about the possibility of using my domain as a handle (username). It’s a good way to be found on the platform and to verify oneself without paying for a ridiculous blue tick.

In less than two minutes, my handle — under which you can find me on the platform — changed from @idarek.bsky.social to @dariusz.wieckiewicz.org. This was all thanks to the implementation of the AT Protocol in Bluesky.

You can become recognised and validated on the Bluesky platform without creating your own server or instance (as in Mastodon).

For those who have decided to make Bluesky their new home and who own their domain, this should be the first step on their to-do list.

With a simple step of adding a TXT record to your domain’s DNS configuration, someone like Stephen King (@stephenking.bsky.social) could be found as @stephenking.com.

The entire process of changing your “handle” to use your domain is explained in How to set your domain as your handle.

If you scroll to the section How do I set this custom domain as my handle? You’ll see instructions for initiating a change of handle to your domain by adding a _atproto TXT record with a unique value (key).

After pressing the verification of DNS records button, most DNS providers will quickly allow an update, and you will be able to see yourself under the new handle on the platform.

Of course, you’ll need access to edit the DNS records for your domain. I’ve been advocating for years that if you ask someone to create a website for you, you should always ensure that the domain is registered in your name. The path may diverge down the road, and controlling these essential assets will help you avoid significant hurdles when you decide to go in a different direction.

I must admit, this feature will likely boost the platform’s popularity. Hopefully, it will be the final nail in the coffin for the dead bird — the rotting corpse that should have been buried long ago.