Bluesky

[NoTalentHack]

I think though that Bluesky being fairly new, they're going to do what many sites do early on and allow many things to help build the platform. They grow to a good size the opposite happens and they begin to worry if anything on there could turn people off. The exact story of kindle was it was built by indy authors with erotica a hot as fuck seller, then when it blew up and the big publishers wanted in....well those pesky indies and their dirty stories needed to be banned or buried.

I could be wrong, but I've seen a lot of the grass is always greener and it turns out not to be. If I'm not mistaken I heard all about how Wattpad was going to be the next big thing in erotica and free story publishing then....not so much.

But it never hurts to try.

But "Hey, here's a new venue that has possibilities" is far more professional than needing to make snide remarks about nastiness which is a veiled political dig because last week left a lot of people butthurt.

You were literally the first person in this thread to bring up political speech.

 

[TheLobster]

(...) they're going to do what many sites do early on and allow many things to help build the platform. They grow to a good size the opposite happens and they begin to worry if anything on there could turn people off.

Story as old as time. Happened to Blogger, Tumblr, and probably countless others.

Porn is always the reluctantly tolerated guest on any platform. The moment ad revenue from brands who don't like the effects of their marketing spend being shown next to smut grows too tempting to ignore, the naughty stuff gets the boot swiftly.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I think though that Bluesky being fairly new, they're going to do what many sites do early on and allow many things to help build the platform. They grow to a good size the opposite happens and they begin to worry if anything on there could turn people off. The exact story of kindle was it was built by indy authors with erotica a hot as fuck seller, then when it blew up and the big publishers wanted in....well those pesky indies and their dirty stories needed to be banned or buried.

You're right that this is a common pattern with websites - same thing happened with Tumblr, with LiveJournal, even OnlyFans made some moves in that direction.

But from my understanding, one of the differences between Bluesky and Twitter is that Bluesky's designed to be less centralised and to give users more choice about what kind of content they want to see. I'm not up enough on Bluesky to predict how it'll work out, but they are at least trying to avoid that. Since it's open-source, if somebody fucks it up badly enough it can be replicated elsewhere with different policies.

(I'm not on Bluesky and not currently planning to be, but that's for unrelated reasons.)

I could be wrong, but I've seen a lot of the grass is always greener and it turns out not to be. If I'm not mistaken I heard all about how Wattpad was going to be the next big thing in erotica and free story publishing then....not so much.

But it never hurts to try.

But "Hey, here's a new venue that has possibilities" is far more professional than needing to make snide remarks about nastiness which is a veiled political dig because last week left a lot of people butthurt.

People have been criticising Musk's management of Twitter/X since way before he palled up with 45/47. If you weren't on it, you probably didn't see what it was like; it was never great on things like harassment and adult content but it got much much worse after he took over. It's a great place if you want to keep up with violent misogynists like Andrew Tate, but I don't think that's your jam.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'll check this out over the weekend. Are you limited to pushing your Lit work or can you push your Amazon and other sites with your profile and work?

 

[lovecraft68]

You're right that this is a common pattern with websites - same thing happened with Tumblr, with LiveJournal, even OnlyFans made some moves in that direction.

But from my understanding, one of the differences between Bluesky and Twitter is that Bluesky's designed to be less centralised and to give users more choice about what kind of content they want to see. I'm not up enough on Bluesky to predict how it'll work out, but they are at least trying to avoid that. Since it's open-source, if somebody fucks it up badly enough it can be replicated elsewhere with different policies.

(I'm not on Bluesky and not currently planning to be, but that's for unrelated reasons.)



People have been criticising Musk's management of Twitter/X since way before he palled up with 45/47. If you weren't on it, you probably didn't see what it was like; it was never great on things like harassment and adult content but it got much much worse after he took over. It's a great place if you want to keep up with violent misogynists like Andrew Tate, but I don't think that's your jam.

Tumblr became a hot spot for porn, then they banned most of it, but I think they came crawling back to it because of how much traffic they lost. I know a lot of porn accounts can get shadow banned on Twitter/X but then again, some of the porn star and only fan accounts are huge so...I don't know what determines what.

Most of my Twitter experiences were following horror and comic accounts so I never got into much of the political insanity or clicked on whatever was trending.

The broader exposer "less centralized' as you put it could be the exact thing that eventually gets porn in dutch on that site. People being exposed to it who don't want to be.

I never understood why any platform simply doesn't have some type of separate log in or other way to see adult material and if you don't choose it, you don't. If Amazon of B&N grew up and had adult sections they could sell whatever they wanted and be free from the "what if my kid ends up seeing..." or whatever other lame excuse puritans use.

The Andrew Tate remark isn't worth a reply, except that the Diddy bomb about to go off will end up making him look like a boy scout.

 

[MelissaBaby]

But "Hey, here's a new venue that has possibilities" is far more professional than needing to make snide remarks about nastiness which is a veiled political dig because last week left a lot of people butthurt.

I was thinking more about my posts getting bombed with replies calling me a “n*ggerlover” because my husband is black. Oh, and being told that was acceptable by the moderators. I’ve been on Twitter for eight years. That never happened until this year.

I don’t feel a particular need to be “professional” about it.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I'll check this out over the weekend. Are you limited to pushing your Lit work or can you push your Amazon and other sites with your profile and work?

The Starter Pack is not a group chat or anything like that, it’s a listing of Lit authors, so users on the site can find us all in one place. It doesn’t restrict you in any way.

 

[MelissaBaby]

I never understood why any platform simply doesn't have some type of separate log in or other way to see adult material and if you don't choose it, you don't. If Amazon of B&N grew up and had adult sections they could sell whatever they wanted and be free from the "what if my kid ends up seeing..." or whatever other lame excuse puritans use.

On Bluesky, you have to opt in to see adult content.

 

[SyleusSnow]

I'll check this out over the weekend. Are you limited to pushing your Lit work or can you push your Amazon and other sites with your profile and work?

Looks like you can push anything you want. There are many commercial writers flogging their stuff on Amazon and everywhere else.

Here's a Smut Lovers & Writers starter pack (starter packs are just curated lists) by ‪@qblueheart.bsky.social‬ if you want to take a look.

 

[TheNyxianLily]

So X but with more censorship, kind of like what X was when it was still called Twitter?

Yeah, no thanks; especially for promoting adult content which is usually the first thing moral busybodies like to target.

Bluesky, like many other social media sites, was adopted and shaped very early on by adult content creators and sex workers. Their presence actually stopped the platform from turning into something very different and, for the moment, the site is incredibly friendly to anyone posting adult content.

My own profile has been flagged as 18+, and it hasn't affected my engagement in the slightest.

 

[RejectReality]

Anyone who believes one of these sites isn't going to bury adult content creators like a turd in a cat litter box ( sooner rather than later ) is delusional. As soon as they reach the point where there's a possibility of becoming profitable, you become a liability. The blue team doesn't want you around any more than the red team does, and they will jettison you just as quickly once the ad agencies and financial institutions start complaining about your filth.

Hollywood is moving into Blue Sky, and that means you'll soon be moving out. ( or at least into the deepest, darkest, dankest corner of the cellar )

 

[lovecraft68]

Somewhat off topic, but relevant, and something I've mentioned before in any thread regarding using social media to promote your lit work.

If all you ever intend to do is post here for free, then by all means give it a go. It can't hurt.

But if you are selling your work, or have it in your mind that you would eventually like to? This is a deadly mistake.

You want someone to pay for your work, but constantly link a site that has tens of thousands of free stories in every kink imaginable? Not smart business.

Someone here who was veery popular had an exit plan they discussed with me for selling. They'd started a twitter account, but did not link here, they were just building a following for when they were ready to start selling. Brought some other authors onboard with him and they were going to launch some collections of stories from all of them. Then a lit contest came around that he-and they desperately wanted to place in, and they began linking their contest stories from lit on their twitter accounts.

Guess how they did when it came time to sell? Not well because in addition to that error, they also bought into Kindle's exclusive-and give away-programs, then when the limit was up and they put it for sale....gee, no one is buying. Shocking.

So, just a warning to anyone who is considering trying to go to the selling level. Even if your paid work is not available here, you just opened the door for someone to never have to pay for a story in their life. I also say the same thing about giving books away for free on Kindle and SW.

This PSA is not meant to jack @MelissaBaby thread in a different direction, but its worth bringing up.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Is there a way to edit a post after it's been posted? I can't find a way. That will teach me to proofread better.

 

[AllenWoody]

Is there a way to edit a post after it's been posted? I can't find a way. That will teach me to proofread better.

Same problem. I chose to delete/recreate.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Is there a way to edit a post after it's been posted? I can't find a way. That will teach me to proofread better.

Mine usually have an edit button down at the bottom. Comes in handy as my fingers often speak a different language than the rest of me.

 

[Erozetta]

Mine usually have an edit button down at the bottom. Comes in handy as my fingers often speak a different language than the rest of me.


View attachment 2428043

He meant on Bluesky, I think. And no, much like free Twitter you just have to delete and repost or live with the error. (I'm probably half and half with those.)

 

[cadeauxxx]

This will flame out just like Threads and other Twitter alternatives that just serve as echo chambers for people who don't know how to use the block button and how to mute specific words and hashtags to correlate the homepage how they want.

I use Twitter so much more since Elon Musk bought it and will be staying there.

 

[lovecraft68]

This will flame out just like Threads and other Twitter alternatives that just serve as echo chambers for people who don't know how to use the block button and how to mute specific words and hashtags to correlate the homepage how they want.

I use Twitter so much more since Elon Musk bought it and will be staying there.

I'm sure many will and there's always something to be said for attrition. If people leave its more attention for those that remain.

 

[lovecraft68]

Anyone who believes one of these sites isn't going to bury adult content creators like a turd in a cat litter box ( sooner rather than later ) is delusional. As soon as they reach the point where there's a possibility of becoming profitable, you become a liability. The blue team doesn't want you around any more than the red team does, and they will jettison you just as quickly once the ad agencies and financial institutions start complaining about your filth.

Hollywood is moving into Blue Sky, and that means you'll soon be moving out. ( or at least into the deepest, darkest, dankest corner of the cellar )

This is pretty much what I was saying-and no better example than Amazon, B&N and other for sale platforms. Erotica is a useful idiot to build something up, then quickly discarded when the venue becomes too good for it. Unfortunately, I think people always want to be Charlie Brown going to kick the ball Lucy is holding. "This time she won't pull it away."

We both speak from time and experience, but considering there is another motivation behind this other than 'here's a new' venue, facts aren't going to matter much.

I hope it does work out for people trying to get some more eyes on their work, but I know Lucy, and she's not to be trusted.

And no, adult material has no allies in the political realm. At least not publicly because we know they're all pervy behind closed doors.

 

[cadeauxxx]

Anyone who believes one of these sites isn't going to bury adult content creators like a turd in a cat litter box ( sooner rather than later ) is delusional. As soon as they reach the point where there's a possibility of becoming profitable, you become a liability. The blue team doesn't want you around any more than the red team does, and they will jettison you just as quickly once the ad agencies and financial institutions start complaining about your filth.

Hollywood is moving into Blue Sky, and that means you'll soon be moving out. ( or at least into the deepest, darkest, dankest corner of the cellar )

This is true.

Tumblr did a porn ban that came out of nowhere and completely shocked people. They willingly sacrificed 30-40% of their userbase to do it. In their case, they blamed it on lack of moderation. Instead of hiring more moderators to do the job, they decided banning all porn and using content filters would save them money. A few years ago, they slightly lifted the ban to allow tasteful nudity and topless photos, but the damage was already done with them losing a significant portion of their userbase.

Imgur also purged all NSFW content and don't allow adult content anymore.

Youtube cleaned up their site some years back as it became more mainstream and used on modern televisions. Even though they didn't all adult content, they have censored things so hard that true crime channels can't use specific words to describe crimes anymore, and there's a full effort of censoring profanity.

I don't trust any of these big tech companies when it comes to hosting adult content. Eventually they will push us all underground once it becomes convenient enough for them to do so. And you're right too that it won't matter what political party. They both do censorship from a different standpoint. The red party will make it a point about dangers to the youth while the blue party will claim they need to ban it cause it's 'problematic'.

I'm sure many will and there's always something to be said for attrition. If people leave its more attention for those that remain.

We've been hearing this stuff for 2 years now how Twitter is on the brink of collapse cause Elon Musk is so terrible and the worst person ever. The same ones shouting this nonsense refuse to explain why the profits have went up. All the big advertisers who boycotted Twitter after he bought it are all coming back including Disney, Warner Brothers, IBM and Discovery. What that shows is that these companies are done with the political virtue signaling and want to maximize their profits. The free market wins at the end of the day over all the moral high grounding and screeching over politics.

If people want to move to another site to have an echo chamber, more power to them. It's their freedom after all. Just as it's my choice to stay on Twitter and ignore politics all together. You don't have to engage with politics on there. You can filter out hashtags and words so you can avoid topics you don't want to see. There's also this thing called the block button, that seems to be a mysterious artifact to many people who don't know how to use it. They also have a 'mute' button that you can use along with the block not seeing someone's posts.

I think most people are sick to death of having politics in every form of entertainment. I barely come on this forum anymore cause so many topics analyze erotic content from some ideological political viewpoint that reads like religious dogma. The more rules there are for creating art and entertainment, the more self-censored it will be and limiting to the creator. That's why I will always argue for freedom of expression and artists being able to express themselves how they see fit without someone accusing them of having the wrong views, wrong opinion, wrong beliefs, etc. It's OK for people to disagree with you and have different beliefs.

This is pretty much what I was saying-and no better example than Amazon, B&N and other for sale platforms. Erotica is a useful idiot to build something up, then quickly discarded when the venue becomes too good for it. Unfortunately, I think people always want to be Charlie Brown going to kick the ball Lucy is holding. "This time she won't pull it away."

We both speak from time and experience, but considering there is another motivation behind this other than 'here's a new' venue, facts aren't going to matter much.

I feel the same here. It's what I don't trust about Twitter. I don't care at all about Musk's political views or him unbanning conservatives that bothers people so much. None of that concerns me whatsoever. I don't trust that the site will maintain supporting adult content forever. We really need to band together as content creators, instead of being divided based on political views. I will never ever trust these companies to be honest to us, since I have witnessed big sites purge NSFW content over the years. Neither political party is going to stop the other from censorship once they're in power.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

This is true.

Tumblr did a porn ban that came out of nowhere and completely shocked people. They willingly sacrificed 30-40% of their userbase to do it. In their case, they blamed it on lack of moderation. Instead of hiring more moderators to do the job, they decided banning all porn and using content filters would save them money. A few years ago, they slightly lifted the ban to allow tasteful nudity and topless photos, but the damage was already done with them losing a significant portion of their userbase.

Imgur also purged all NSFW content and don't allow adult content anymore.

Youtube cleaned up their site some years back as it became more mainstream and used on modern televisions. Even though they didn't all adult content, they have censored things so hard that true crime channels can't use specific words to describe crimes anymore, and there's a full effort of censoring profanity.

I don't trust any of these big tech companies when it comes to hosting adult content. Eventually they will push us all underground once it becomes convenient enough for them to do so. And you're right too that it won't matter what political party. They both do censorship from a different standpoint. The red party will make it a point about dangers to the youth while the blue party will claim they need to ban it cause it's 'problematic'.





We've been hearing this stuff for 2 years now how Twitter is on the brink of collapse cause Elon Musk is so terrible and the worst person ever. The same ones shouting this nonsense refuse to explain why the profits have went up. All the big advertisers who boycotted Twitter after he bought it are all coming back including Disney, Warner Brothers, IBM and Discovery. What that shows is that these companies are done with the political virtue signaling and want to maximize their profits. The free market wins at the end of the day over all the moral high grounding and screeching over politics.

If people want to move to another site to have an echo chamber, more power to them. It's their freedom after all. Just as it's my choice to stay on Twitter and ignore politics all together. You don't have to engage with politics on there. You can filter out hashtags and words so you can avoid topics you don't want to see. There's also this thing called the block button, that seems to be a mysterious artifact to many people who don't know how to use it. They also have a 'mute' button that you can use along with the block not seeing someone's posts.

I think most people are sick to death of having politics in every form of entertainment. I barely come on this forum anymore cause so many topics analyze erotic content from some ideological political viewpoint that reads like religious dogma. The more rules there are for creating art and entertainment, the more self-censored it will be and limiting to the creator. That's why I will always argue for freedom of expression and artists being able to express themselves how they see fit without someone accusing them of having the wrong views, wrong opinion, wrong beliefs, etc. It's OK for people to disagree with you and have different beliefs.




I feel the same here. It's what I don't trust about Twitter. I don't care at all about Musk's political views or him unbanning conservatives that bothers people so much. None of that concerns me whatsoever. I don't trust that the site will maintain supporting adult content forever. We really need to band together as content creators, instead of being divided based on political views. I will never ever trust these companies to be honest to us, since I have witnessed big sites purge NSFW content over the years. Neither political party is going to stop the other from censorship once they're in power.

Well said.

 

[alohadave]

Even though they didn't all adult content, they have censored things so hard that true crime channels can't use specific words to describe crimes anymore, and there's a full effort of censoring profanity.

Unalive is a word that has come into existence solely because of Youtube's policies. Interestingly, it's spreading out beyond YT among younger people.

The word suicide is also weirdly taboo.

 

[SyleusSnow]

Idle speculation is boring, but I'll engage in some.

Of course Bluesky will be pressured to censor content, especially since they're US-based. The incoming administration has vowed to ban porn ("for the children", as always). And since Musk has a seat at the table for the moment, he'll likely use that influence to stomp Bluesky and all competitors of the companies he figureheads.

I'm more worried about Literotica. It's the largest erotica site by far, is US-based and hosts plenty of "transgender ideology" to point to. If it really is run by just two people, Lit would be easy to attack or simply litigate into the ground. An easy target and great symbolic victory. I see that AO3, Wattpad and others are preparing for attacks. I hope Lit has plans to move to EU hosting.

But this isn't the Politics board. Right now I'm enjoying Bluesky: it's a pleasant place with lots of engagement and writerly posts. I hope for the best.

 

[THBGato]

My wife has been on Bluesky for over a year and loves it. (She's a fantastic YA/MG author that I wish I could brag about on here without outing myself.)
She'd steadily built up to around 1000 followers over the year
Then, this week, she's added about 200 followers per day after a couple of people included her in starter packs. She's just over 2700 followers now.

 

[cadeauxxx]

Unalive is a word that has come into existence solely because of Youtube's policies. Interestingly, it's spreading out beyond YT among younger people.

The word suicide is also weirdly taboo.

Same thing with 'unhoused' as the new politically correct way of saying 'homeless'. Or 'migrants' in place of 'illegal immigrants'.

This taboo around language is one of many reasons people are so pissed off and pushing back. People are tired of the self-censorship and having to walk around on egg shells in fear of upsetting them for saying something politically incorrect.

I'm more worried about Literotica. It's the largest erotica site by far, is US-based and hosts plenty of "transgender ideology" to point to. If it really is run by just two people, Lit would be easy to attack or simply litigate into the ground. An easy target and great symbolic victory. I see that AO3, Wattpad and others are preparing for attacks. I hope Lit has plans to move to EU hosting.

Moving to EU hosting would be complete suicide for Literotica and these sites to host. The EU does not have any of the protections on speech and creative freedoms that we have here in America.

These sites will be fine with protections under the First Amendment. Literotica has disclaimers that mention Falwell v Flynt. Set aside Elon Musk Derangement Syndrome and have faith in the constitution and our rights. It will be fine.