Bluesky to introduce Reddit-style communities in 2026
Head of product Alex Benzer confirms the rollout of dedicated community hubs with unique handles and custom landing pages, mirroring features recently launched by Meta’s Threads.
Bluesky is set to launch a 'communities' feature in 2026, marking a significant structural shift for the decentralised social network. The update will introduce topic-specific spaces within the platform, allowing users to create and join dedicated areas for niche interests. This move transitions the service from its current model as a single, unified space for all users to a more segmented environment.
Alex Benzer, Bluesky’s head of product, confirmed the announcement, describing the new functionality as a way for users to engage with specific topics in smaller, dedicated areas. Under the new structure, every community will be assigned a unique handle that serves as its URL, such as community-name.bsky.social or community-name.bsky.space. Accessing these links will direct users to custom landing pages for each group.
Community owners will have the ability to utilise apps and tools built on the AT protocol, the open-source framework underpinning Bluesky, to create custom experiences on their home pages. This flexibility allows for tailored features and enhanced functionality within individual community spaces, giving administrators greater control over the user experience.
Content from these communities will appear automatically in users’ Discover feeds. However, it remains undecided whether Bluesky will implement a special feed dedicated solely to community content or rely exclusively on the existing Discover feed mechanism. Users will also have the option to opt into alerts for new posts and updates within their communities, ensuring they stay informed about activity in their areas of interest.
The feature mirrors the subreddit structure of Reddit and follows a similar launch by Meta’s Threads platform in late 2025. Both platforms are adopting dedicated spaces for specific interests, reflecting a broader industry trend towards community-driven engagement. Benzer stated that his team is currently conducting research by speaking with developers and community organizers to refine the experience before the full rollout.
While the feature is confirmed for 2026, the specific timeline for the launch has not been specified. Benzer indicated that further details would be revealed as the feature is built, suggesting an iterative development process. The move positions Bluesky to compete more directly with established social networks that have already integrated similar community structures.
