What works on Bluesky, measured

Every account Updrift measures has its posts grouped by format, length and time of day, each group scored against that account's own usual post. This is the aggregate of the What works report, across every account, never one.

Updated 30 September 2026

The sample

Too few accounts yet

The what-works table is published once at least 200 accounts are behind it, with 30 or more behind every figure shown. The totals have not been built yet. Every account connected to Updrift, the Free plan included, adds to the sample; connect yours and it counts from its first measured post.

How this is measured. Each post's likes, reposts, replies and quotes in its first day, per thousand followers its account had that day, divided by that account's own median post, so 1.0 is an ordinary post for that account and 1.5 is half again better. Each account weighs the same whatever its size, so one large account cannot set a figure. It shows what went with better posts, not what caused them. Only totals are kept, never a row per account or a post; people who asked to be left out are not counted. The sample skews towards creators and towards UK and US time zones, so read it as a starting point and measure your own account. A group's figure is the mean across accounts of each account's median score on its posts in the group, so a group at 1.20 beat the median post of the accounts behind it by a fifth. An account needs 5 posts in the group and as many overall to count, a group 5 accounts to be stored and 30 to be shown. A post whose format has not been read yet counts for its time of day only.

Using it

Take the groups above usual as things worth trying, then measure them on your own account: Growth's What works report groups your own posts the same way, the top line free and the whole report on a paid plan, with the free stats. The threads guide covers how to split a longer post well, the alt text guide what an image post needs, and the hashtag page which tags travel with better posts.

Questions

Should I switch to the format with the highest figure?

Not on that alone. The figure says which kinds of post travelled with better first days across many accounts with different audiences. Your own account may differ, and the What works report on Growth groups your own posts the same way.

Why are the figures so close to 1?

Because 1 is each account's own usual post, and most of an account's posts are its usual. A group at 1.2 beat the account's median by a fifth, taken as the median of that group's posts, which is a real gap; a group at 3 would be a spike, not a pattern, and the median keeps one big post from making it.

What about hashtags and labels?

Hashtags have their own page, by tag and by follower band. Labels are measured only for an account that labels its posts, against that account's own usual, and are not pooled here.

See your own figures, free.

Followers by the hour, the posts that landed, your best hours and how your hashtags do. One account, no card, for good.

The Planner, the Inbox and the full What works report come with a paid plan, 7 days free. See the plans.