Bluesky analytics glossary

The words that appear on an analytics page, and what each one means. Where Updrift measures a figure, this is how it does it.

Updated 30 September 2026

Counts

Followers

The number of accounts following yours, as Bluesky reports it. Updrift reads it every hour for a connected account and keeps the history, which is what makes most of the figures below possible.

Following

The number of accounts yours follows. On its own it says little; set against followers it says something about how the account is used.

Follower change

Followers now against followers at an earlier time: today against yesterday, this week against last, the last 30 days. Updrift's Growth page shows the change as a number and, on the plans that name people, as the people: who is new and who left. The lost followers guide covers how that is worked out.

Followers gained by the hour

New followers, dated by the hour they first appeared. Updrift reads an account's newest followers every hour and records each one by that hour, so a jump can be set against what happened around then: a post, a reply, a starter pack share.

Engagement

Day-one engagement

A post's likes, reposts, replies and quotes in its first 24 hours. Updrift measures the first day rather than the lifetime total because a post on a chronological feed gets nearly all of its attention early, and because a fixed window lets an old post be compared with a new one.

Engagement per thousand followers

Day-one engagement divided by the followers the account had on that day, times a thousand. It is the figure Updrift sets every post against, so that a post from when the account was small can be compared with one from now. The engagement rate guide works through it with an example.

Your usual

The median post: the account's own middle post by engagement per thousand followers over a recent window. Half your posts do better, half do worse. Updrift uses the median rather than the mean because one post that went far pulls the mean up until nothing seems to beat it.

Lift against usual

A post's, an hour's or a tag's engagement per thousand followers, as a percentage of your usual. 100% is your usual; 150% is half again as good. Lift is how Updrift shows best hours, the hashtag table and the What works report, because a percentage of your own median is the only figure that is fair across accounts of different sizes.

Best hours

The hours of the day, on the account's own clock, in which posts beat your usual most often, grouped by hour and by weekday. Updrift shows them once the account has enough posts at enough hours to say. The best time to post guide explains why they are the account's own.

Hashtag lift

For each tag you have used, the median lift of the posts carrying it, with how many posts that is and whether it is rising or falling. A tag with too few posts behind it says so rather than guessing.

Reach and reactions

Reach

How many people a post was shown to. Bluesky does not report impressions, so no tool can measure reach directly. Where Updrift shows reach, in a campaign report, it is an estimate built from the followers of the accounts that reposted and quoted the post, and it is labelled as one.

Reposts and quotes

A repost puts your post into the reposter's followers' feeds unchanged; a quote puts it inside their own post with a comment. Both count in day-one engagement. Updrift's Growth page also names the accounts whose reposts carried your posts furthest, on the plans that name people.

Replies

Answers to a post. They count in day-one engagement, and the ones still waiting for your answer are what Updrift's Inbox holds, oldest first.

Follow-back rate

Of the accounts yours followed in a period, the share that followed back within a set time. Updrift counts it for follows made from the account through Updrift, and checks whether those followers still follow at 14 and 30 days, so a follow that brought a follower who left in a fortnight is not counted as growth.

Sources of followers

Starter pack

A shareable list of up to 150 accounts and up to three feeds that a new person can follow in one tap. Bluesky does not report which pack brought a follower; Updrift works it out from the hour a follower appeared and the packs it knows about, and shows how many each pack brought.

Custom feed

A feed built by anyone, from tags, lists or rules, that people can subscribe to. A post that lands in the right feed reaches people who chose that topic. A jump in followers by the hour that lines up with a post landing in a busy feed is the usual sign of one.

Content label

A label an author or a moderation service attaches to a post saying what it carries, which each reader's settings turn into show, warn or hide. A labelled post reaches fewer people, so Updrift compares labelled posts against your usual rather than against unlabelled ones in raw numbers. The labels guide has the details.

Retention at 14 and 30 days

Of the followers gained in a period, or from one source, the share still following 14 and 30 days on. A starter pack that brings followers who stay is worth asking into again; one that brings followers who leave was the wrong crowd. Updrift checks retention for the sources it tracks on the plans that track them.

How the figures are read