Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Correct! See a great example here: bsky.app/profile/did:..., tagging @richferro.com along too :) 130
Reposted by Tony ZhouConflictedairr @conflictedairr.blacksky.app · 14/09/2026Hey #blackskygamers quick plug and source of information & insight for you all that have questions on feeds here on Bluesky. In the quoted post below I’m proud to say I’m one of the many feed creators @tyzhou.bsky.social & the University of Washington decided to speak with on the topic of feeds 🧡 1158
Reposted by Tony ZhouAmy Zhang @axz.bsky.social · 14/09/2026We were interested in studying the Bsky custom feed ecosystem, with a focus on feed creators, as arguably the first real instantiation of the vision of middleware providers for social media services like recommendation. The idea always seemed great in theory, but how sustainable is it really? 34315
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026If you mean a third-party custom feed, nearly all custom feeds are made by third parties through the above tools ^ that are not affiliated with Bluesky :) 100
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Yes! If you mean third-party feed-building tools, there are many available to build your own custom feeds: - skyfeed.app - www.graze.social - blueskyfeedcreator.com 110
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026I want to deeply thank every feed creator and third-party developer who took the time to talk with us. Many thanks to @leijiew.bsky.social and @axz.bsky.social for their support! A preliminary version of these findings appeared at the ATmosphereConf this past March: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7I2...youtube.comUnderstanding the Landscape of Custom Feeds on Bluesky - ATmosphereConf 2026YouTube video by AT Protocol Development, Tech Talks, and Events 181
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026We contend that meaningful implementation of middleware for feed recommendation requires reducing these power and cost gaps. We propose new design implications and more in the paper! 1120
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Crucially, the ecosystem is sustained almost entirely by volunteer hobbyist feed creators absorbing server and time costs. Creators are divided on how to improve: some embrace transparent in-feed ads and donations to recover costs, while others worry monetization contradicts Bluesky’s ethos. 1101
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Despite Bluesky's open architecture, we find significant power asymmetries. The platform retains privileged access to granular user interaction data, and only a handful of creators hold the technical expertise to build powerful algorithms without relying on third-party tools. 1162
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Eventually, complex feeds hit a ceiling with third party block-building tools. To do "real recommendation work" (e.g., complex custom ranking, trending detection, or handling massive traffic), expert creators are forced to abandon no-code tools and write custom backend infrastructure themselves. 1110
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026As feeds grow, keyword matching isn't enough. Creators evolve their custom feeds by implementing vetted allowlists (to control exactly who can post) and even custom labelers (to filter out spam or AI-generated imagery). 180
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026How are feeds built? Almost all via third party tools (e.g., SkyFeed, Graze, Bluesky Feed Creator (BFC)). Most start with simple keyword matching and regular expression (regex) matching, though even this creates a technical barrier for non-technical creators who just want to build a community. 190
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026We identify two key orientations of feed creators: ⚙️ utility-providing and 👥 community-building. ⚙️ Utility-providing creators focus on passive content delivery ("set it and forget it"), while 👥 community-building creators act as active stewards tending to shared social spaces. 1130
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026We argue that custom feeds on Bluesky represent the first large-scale instantiation of these middleware ideals specifically for social media feed recommendation. To understand how they work in practice, we interviewed 26 feed creators and third party developers and analyzed 88,302 custom feeds. 1140
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The potential benefits of middleware are substantial, offering users algorithmic choice and decentralizing platform power. But it introduces new questions, such as: who takes on the labor of building these algorithms, and who pays to host this new infrastructure? 1100
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026To address this, scholars have long proposed a vision of third party "middleware" for social media. The idea is simple: what if core components like feed recommendation were not controlled by large platforms, but by an open ecosystem of independent third party services? 1130
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026These days, many large social media platforms (Twitter/X, YouTube, TikTok) use centralized, top-down algorithms that maximize engagement through behavioral modeling, leaving users with little control over what they actually see. 1130
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Bluesky gives users the power to choose their algorithms, but how does this actually work in practice? In our new preprint, we explore the ecosystem of Bluesky custom feeds and the feed creators behind them! 🧵 arxiv.org/abs/2609.12958arxiv.orgMiddleware for Feed Recommendation in Practice: How Feed Creators Build, Maintain, and Sustain Custom Feeds on BlueskyScholars have long proposed third-party middleware as an alternative to centralized algorithmic feeds: feeds built and distributed by independent feed creators. This vision saw no large-scale instanti... 513546
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 07/11/2025I will be reaching out shortly! Thanks for signing up :) 000
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 27/10/2025Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up so far! We're still looking for a few more participants and we've increased our compensation this round to a $30 USD gift card. If you create or maintain a Bluesky custom feed, we'd love to hear about your experience :) 152
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Super interesting! Our focus with this study is to understand individual creator experiences, but I can definitely see institutional custom feeds as a larger possibility as the ecosystem grows. We will be in contact soon -- happy to chat more about this online! 010
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 20/10/2025Questions? DM @tyzhou.bsky.social or email tyzhou05@uw.edu. Likes and reposts appreciated! 050
Tony Zhou @tyzhou.bsky.social · 20/10/2025📣 Do you create custom feeds on Bluesky? We’re researchers at the @uofwa.bsky.social @socialfutureslab.bsky.social looking to understand feed creator experiences! Interview Details: 1 hour, $20 gift card Sign up: forms.gle/UMNgeoVbUx3e... Info: social.cs.washington.edu/project-page... 3169
