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Bluesky, the open-source Twitter alternative, is about to start testing out one of its more ambitious ideas: allowing its users to run their own <\/a>. The change will allow Bluesky users to and developers to work together to create custom labeling tools for the budding social media platform.<\/p>\n The new moderation tools arrive as Bluesky is seeing a surge in growth after it got rid of its waitlist <\/a> to all users in February. Since then, the service has added about 2 million new users, bringing its total community to just over <\/a>.<\/p>\n The company has said its approach to moderation is based on the same philosophy that has led it to embrace <\/a> algorithms. The goal, Bluesky wrote in a blog post, is to create \u201can ecosystem of moderation and open-source safety tools that gives communities power to create their own spaces, with their own norms and preferences.\u201d<\/p>\n In practice, these moderation tools will take the form of labeling services. Just as Bluesky allows users to set <\/a> moderation preferences \u2014 for example, you can choose whether you want the app to \u201cshow,\u201d \u201cwarn,\u201d or \u201chide\u201d explicit content \u2014 developers will be able to create their own filtering systems others can opt into. \u201cFor example, someone could make a moderation service that blocks photos of spiders from Bluesky \u2014 let\u2019s call it the Spider Shield,\u201d the company explains. \u201cIf you get a jump scare from seeing spiders in your otherwise peaceful nature feed, you could install this moderation service and immediately any labeled spider pictures would disappear from your experience.\u201d<\/p>\n To help make these kinds of experiences possible, Bluesky is open sourcing its collaborative labeling tool <\/a>, which will allow groups of moderators to respond to reports and add labels to content. But the company notes that developers can also create automated labeling systems using Bluesky\u2019s API.<\/p>\n Bluesky CEO Jay Graber has referred to the concept as \u201ccomposable\u201d or \u201cstackable\u201d moderation. \u201cWe’re always doing baseline moderation, meaning that we are providing you with a default moderated experience when you come in [to Bluesky],\u201d Graber told Engadget last month. \u201cAnd then on top of that, you can customize things.\u201d<\/p>\n These new third-party labeling services will start to roll out later this week on the desktop version of Bluesky, with a mobile version coming \u201csoon,\u201d according to the company. And it\u2019s likely users will see more options available in the coming weeks as more developers and groups get their hands on the underlying tools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n