Bluesky & Design Systems Communities

Social media is once again shifting, but for once, it seems like the tone is overall positive. Many design systems people found their community through "Tech Twitter." I wouldn't say Twitter was the best social platform for designers and developers to base a community on; however, it appears the conditions were just right for it. Fast-forward to 2024, and Twitter either lacks flavor (interaction) or leaves a sour taste (its recent changes).

Over the last few months, Bluesky has exploded in popularity through a combination of notable events and the similar conditions I was talking about. Many have said Bluesky feels a lot like "Classic Twitter."

Honorable mentions for Threads and Mastodon, which have also seen communities grow but haven't hit the mark for many. Threads appear to be suffering from algorithm poisoning, and Mastodon, which I do personally enjoy, is very tech-inclined and not the most inviting to designers.

Getting Started

Here are a couple of pointers for my fellow design systems people who are a bit green to Bluesky and want to see what all the hype is about.

Firstly, I'd recommend switching your handle to a custom domain to verify yourself. It's much easier than you think. Matthias has written a nice guide for this over on their blog:

Next, I would use Starter Packs. They're similar to lists on Twitter, but they're designed to be a great starting point for following people on the platform. You can be granular and follow individuals from the Starter Pack or hit the 'Follow all' button to fill your feed instantly.

Above is a Starter Pack I've been putting together of design systems people from Bluesky. However, I'm not the only one. Fellow design systems nerd Stu Robson has also been putting a list together:

For my fellow Web Components nerds, I've put together a couple of Starter Packs. One is for Web Components people, and another specifically for people using Web Components in their design systems:

I would recommend using these packs to cater your feed to your interests. Don't use them exclusively, variety is the spice of life as they say and getting a wide range of perspectives in your feed is super healthy. I'll see you and the zeroheight team on Bluesky 🦋

Update (02/12/24)

Took some extra time out to experiment with Bluesky Feeds and made a couple for Design Systems and Web Components. You might find them useful to keep an eye on what people are chatting about in these respective areas on Bluesky:

Bluesky