How to spot bots on Bluesky
Updated
In short: bot accounts usually give themselves away: a brand-new account with an empty profile, posts at perfectly regular intervals, the same links again and again, and far more accounts followed than followers. You can check any account in seconds with the Bot Checker, then mute, block or report it.
The signs of a bot
- A very new account, often created during a wave of sign-ups along with many similar accounts.
- An unfinished profile: no avatar, no bio, or a generic one, and sometimes a handle made of random letters and numbers.
- Clockwork posting: posts at very regular intervals, day and night.
- The same content again and again: duplicated posts, or links to the same suspicious websites.
- An odd follow ratio: follows thousands of accounts, followed by very few.
- No real conversation: replies that don't match the post, or no replies at all.
One sign alone proves nothing: plenty of real people have no avatar on day one. It's the combination that matters.
Check an account in seconds
Enter a handle in the bskycheck Bot Checker: it reads the account's public activity and gives a bot-likelihood score with the signals behind it. Free, no login.
Not every bot is bad
Bluesky has many useful automated accounts: news headlines, weather and earthquake alerts, art and photo bots, and bridges that bring in accounts from other networks. They are open about being automated, post useful things, and don't follow you to get your attention.
The problem bots are the ones pretending to be people: spam, scams, fake engagement and accounts that follow you only so you follow back.
What to do about a bot
- Mute it (from the ⋯ menu on its profile): you stop seeing its posts and it doesn't know. Mutes are private.
- Block it: it can no longer reply to you, mention you or follow you, and you can't see each other's posts. On Bluesky, blocks are public.
- Report it (⋯ menu → Report account, then the reason, such as spam or misleading). Reports go to Bluesky's moderation team.
- Let others help: subscribe to a moderation list of known spam accounts, or to a community labeler that flags them.
Why do bots follow me?
Mostly to get noticed. Some follow thousands of accounts hoping a share of them follow back, then unfollow to keep their numbers looking good. Others want you to visit their profile and click a link. You don't need to do anything: ignore, mute or block them. The Follower Tracker shows who followed and unfollowed you, which makes follow-and-unfollow patterns easy to spot.
Questions
How can I tell if a Bluesky account is a bot?
Look for a combination of signs: a very new account, an empty profile, posts at regular intervals, repeated links, and many more accounts followed than followers. The Bot Checker looks at these signals for you and gives a score.
Is the bot score proof?
No. It is an estimate based on behavior. Most clearly automated accounts score high, but some real accounts (news feeds, bridges) can look bot-like, and well-made bots can look human. Use it as one signal among others.
Will Bluesky remove a bot I report?
Bluesky's moderation team reviews reports and can label an account (for example as spam) or take it down. To see whether an account has been flagged, use the Label Checker.
Does a bot know if I mute or block it?
Mutes are private: nobody is told. Blocks are public records on Bluesky, so anyone can find out that an account blocked another, but bskycheck never shows who blocked whom.
Are bots allowed on Bluesky?
Automated accounts are allowed, and many are useful. Spam, scams, fake engagement and impersonation are against Bluesky's rules.
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bskycheck is an independent project, not affiliated with Bluesky. Spotted something out of date? Tell @bskycheck.com.