I still haven't managed to get a response from Bluesky about whether all sex workers, including in person sex workers, are welcome on the Bluesky platform.

But for now, it does seem to be the best option for us.

This guide by Reddit user InGodWeTryst has a lot of great info for Sex Workers trying to promote via Bluesky.

I spoke with Mel and got permission to share the guide here.

The Oursky feed is a brilliant idea.

If you pin the feed, then every time you open Bluesky, just look for "Feeds" in the left sidebar. Click that and go to your Oursky feed. All the posts you see will be from genuine sex workers.

Or, you can see pages of posts from genuine sex workers in a specific geographical location using hashtags. Use the same hashtags in your own posts so you'll appear in these searches.

Regional Feeds (use these hashtags to appear in them):

— DateNortheast: #DateDMV, #DateBaltimore, #DatePhiladelphia, #DatePittsburgh, #DateAllentown, #DateHarrisburg, #DateScranton, #DateNewark, #DateJerseyCity, #DateTrenton, #DateAtlanticCity, #DateNewYork, #DateBuffalo, #DateRochester, #DateSyracuse, #DateAlbany, #DateBurlington, #DateStamford, #DateHartford, #DateBridgeport, #DateProvidence, #DateWorcester, #DateBoston, #DateManchester, #DateMaine, #DateBangor, #DateNYC, #DatePHL, #DatePIT, #DateBOS, #DateDC, #DateVT, #DateMD, #DatePA, #DateNJ, #DateVA, #DateNY, #DateCT, #DateRI, #DateMA, #DateNH, #DateNova https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaaf7qzjm7lxs

— DateSouth: #DateAtlanta, #DateCharlotte, #DateRaleigh, #DateGreensboro, #DateCharleston, #DateColumbia, #DateGreenville, #DateSavannah, #DateAugusta, #DateMacon, #DateAthens, #DateBirmingham, #DateMobile, #DateMontgomery, #DateHuntsville, #DateKnoxville, #DateChattanooga, #DateMemphis, #DateNashville, #DateLittleRock, #DateFayetteville, #DateLexington, #DateLouisville, #DateRichmond, #DateNorfolk, #DateHouston, #DateDallas, #DateAustin, #DateSanAntonio, #DateFortWorth, #DateElPaso, #DateATL, #DateCLT, #DateDFW, #DateATX, #DateMiami, #DateJacksonville, #DateTampa, #DateOrlando, #DateTulsa, #DateOKC, #DateMIA, #DateFLL, #DateFlorida, #DateNC, #DateFL, #DateOK, #DateTX, #DateVA, #DateKY, #DateTN, #DateAL, #DateAR, #DateSC, #DateGA https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaaf73mphx5ty

— DateCalifornia & Vegas: #DateLasVegas, #DateVegas, #DateLA, #DateOC, #DateLV, #DateNV, #DateLosAngeles, #DateSanFrancisco, #DateSanDiego, #DateSacramento, #DateSanJose, #DateFresno, #DateOakland, #DateLongBeach, #DateAnaheim, #DateBakersfield, #DateRiverside, #DateSantaAna, #DateIrvine, #DateStockton, #DateModesto, #DatePasadena, #DateSantaBarbara, #DateSantaMonica, #DateSanBernardino, #DateLAX, #DateSF, #DateSD, #DateLAS, #DateSJC, #DateOAK, #DateCA https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaagadxngpyxw

— DateMidwest: #DateChicago, #DateIndianapolis, #DateDetroit, #DateColumbus, #DateCleveland, #DateCincinnati, #DateMilwaukee, #DateMinneapolis, #DateStPaul, #DateKansasCity, #DateStLouis, #DateOmaha, #DateDesMoines, #DateWichita, #DateToledo, #DateAkron, #DateGrandRapids, #DateSpringfield, #DateMadison, #DateMSP, #DateDET, #DateCHI, #DateIL, #DateIN, #DateMI, #DateOH, #DateWI, #DateMN, #DateMO, #DateNE, #DateIA, #DateKS https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaagblnvxhfha

— DateWest: #DateSeattle, #DatePortland, #DatePhoenix, #DateSaltLakeCity, #DateReno, #DateSpokane, #DateBoise, #DateHonolulu, #DateAnchorage, #DateTucson, #DateFlagstaff, #DateSantaFe, #DateAlbuquerque, #DateCheyenne, #DateBillings, #DateFargo, #DateBismarck, #DateGrandForks, #DateHelena, #DateMissoula, #DateCasper, #DateRapidCity, #DateProvo, #DateSiouxFalls, #DateDavenport, #DateEvansville, #DateGreenBay, #DateND, #DateSD, #DateWA, #DateOR, #DateIA, #DateHI, #DateAK, #DateAZ, #DatePDX, #DateSEA, #DatePHX, #DatePNW https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaagblzc4xvii

— DateColorado: #DateDenver, #DateBoulder, #DateColoradoSprings, #DateFortCollins, #DateAurora, #DateGrandJunction, #DatePueblo, #DateGreeley, #DateDurango, #DateVail, #DateAspen, #DateCastleRock, #DateLoveland, #DateSteamboatSprings, #DateDEN, #DateCO, #DateCOSprings https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaagbnfv4mi2s

— DateCanada: #DateToronto, #DateVancouver, #DateMontreal, #DateCalgary, #DateEdmonton, #DateOttawa, #DateQuebecCity, #DateWinnipeg, #DateHalifax, #DateVictoria, #DateNanaimo, #DateKamloops, #DateKelowna, #DateSaskatoon, #DateRegina, #DateStJohns, #DateYYZ, #DateYVR, #DateYUL, #DateYYC, #DateYEG, #DateYOW, #DateYQB, #DateYWG, #DateYHZ, #DateYYJ, #DateYXE, #DateYQR, #DateYYT, #DateON, #DateBC, #DateQC, #DateAB, #DateNL, #DatePE, #DateNS, #DateNB, #DateMB, #DateSK, #DateYT, #DateNT, #DateNU https://bsky.app/profile/ingodwetryst.bsky.social/feed/aaahk73etzt6e

Starter Packs

Click "Follow All".

Discoverability Pack #1

Discoverability Pack #2

Discoverability Pack #3

Discoverability Pack #4

Discoverability Pack #5

Most of them won't follow you back, or reply to comments, or messages, or return the favour if you like or repost something of theirs by doing the same for you. But some will.

Migrating Followers from Twitter and Instagram

I used Sky Follower Bridge to find out which of my followers on Twitter (X) and Instagram also have Bluesky accounts and to follow them all on Buesky with one click.

Here's a guide explaining how to find Bluesky users within your X followers list using the plugin.

Here's another guide explaining how to do the same thing for Instagram.

Real Sex Workers

If someone has made an effort to fill out their bio, they mention a geographical location and they have links to their personal website, verified ad and/or a linktree or similar, they're probably genuine.

I could still be a scammer impersonating a real sex worker.

The best way to verify is to click through to their website or link tree and check whether they link back to that same Bluesky account you came from.

Fake Sex Workers

If you go into your Bluesky notifications and see the people who have recently followed you, or just go into your followers list. It's automatically sorted by most recent first. You'll notice that a lot of the people following you appear at first glance to be sex workers.

If you look more closely at their profiles, many of them are allegedly Fin Doms or content creators but they have very generic looking (ie stolen or AI generated) images, minimal or no bio information, often they have no location mentioned and they either have no link to a personal website, verified ad or linktree or similar, or the only link they display is to some dodgy looking site you've never heard of.

Don't follow them back.

If you do, you'll just get spammed with messages from people trying to scam you in one way or another.

How to Promote Yourself on Bluesky

The entire point of Bluesky, or any kind of web presence, for sex workers is to be noticed by genuine, paying clients who will book an appointment, show up and pay.

Not everyone who sees your Bluesky posts will be a paying client but that's ok. It's just part of your overall web presence. The more people who see you online, the more business and income that web presence generates for you.

Quantity counts obviously so just post more. Also, quality. Post in a way that will be appealing to clients.

Post

Post often.

Post professional pics, post selfies, post memes, post pictures of where you are on tour or on holidays or what glamorous or sexy items you've bought, what toys you're using in sessions. Post a selfie with your duo partner. Post links to your latest blog posts.

The more you post, the better.

Use the oursky hashtag and the location tags above.

Location, Location, Location

The quantity nor quality of your posts won't matter if nobody knows where in the world you are.

Top tip = say where you are.

Use the location hashtags above.

Say the name of your country and city in plain text.

Make sure it says where you are in your bio (and on your website and ads and everywhere else) top and centre where people can see it within a fraction of a second.

Announce your tour plans.

Tell people where you are and where you will be.

Add Content Warnings

When you post, click the "Label" link on the post editor. Select suggestive, nudity, adult content, or graphic media as appropriate.

Comment on Other Sex Workers Posts

Especially if they're in the same geographic location as you.

So go to one of those location hashtag feeds and comment on posts.

The clients looking at their posts will see your comment.

Some of them will click through to you and those clicks lead to $$$.

Respond to Comments

When other people comment on your posts, reply.

Welcome the attention.

Let people know you want to interact and you're happy to engage.

More engagement means more $$$.

Follow All Genuine Sex Workers Back

The more genuine sex workers you follow, the better.

Use those starter packs above.

If you can see someone is genuine, follow them.

Follow all the genuine sex workers in their followers and following lists and those who recently commented on their posts.

Some of them will follow you back.

More followers means more engagement means more $$$.

Follow For Follow

Welcome to make a follow for follow post on the /r/sexworkers subreddit.

I'm a moderator there.

I'll approve it.

If your a member of any other sex worker groups eg on Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal, Discord etc, make sure it's ok to post follow for follow there. Ask the admins or moderators if necessary. Then if it's ok, make a post with your bsky username saying you will follow back.

Return the Favour

If someone likes your post, or shares your post, or comments, then do the same for them. They're giving you free advertising. Show them you appreciate it and they might do it again in future. The more people who are willing to do this for you, the more $$$ you make.

Link to your Bluesky

Put a link to your Bluesky on your personal website, in your verified ads and on your link aggregator eg Linktree.

I've been exchanging emails with Bluesky for a few months now trying to clarify whether or not sex workers are welcome to use the platform.

Bluesky is a social media platform that has recently become very popular with sex workers.

There's been a bit of a mass exodus of sex workers leaving Twitter (X) and Instagram and registering on Bluesky instead.

It seems we've reached a bit of a tipping point where the blatant discrimination we face on social media outweighs any benefit we might get from continuing to use platforms where most of us are shadowbanned anyway.

Here are the emails I've exchanged so far with Bluesky =

Can I please ask, are sex workers welcome on Bluesky? I ask because other social media platforms eg X and insta, have made billions thanks to content created by sex workers but at the same time they like to shadowban, or outright ban, us with no warning or explanation. If we are welcome here, that is a big deal, I'm sure you're aware, there's a large exodus of sex workers curenly, leaving those other platforms and coming here to Bluesky Do you want this to happen, or not? If you do, then I would like to do everything in my power to encourage sex workers to leave the platforms where we are not welcome and come to Bluesky instead. If we are welcome here, could someone from Bluesky please do an AMA on the /r/sexworkers subreddit where I'm a moderator? I'm/u/aussiemaleescort, /r/sexworkers has 320,000 members. If you'd like to do the AMA, please let me know a day and time that suits you and I'll set it up.

I received this reply =

Hi Oz, thanks for reaching out.

Bluesky allows adult content, and actually, adult content creators were one of the earliest communities to join the app, back when we were still in our beta phase. We encourage users to set their adult content filters according to their own preferences. Additionally, when you share an image to Bluesky, you're able to add your own labels, such as for nudity. We highly encourage adult content creators to label their images so everyone's content preferences are respected.

Unfortunately we don't have capacity right now to do a full AMA, but I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have over email here. Thanks for your understanding!

This is great if you're a content creator but what about other sex workers eg in person providers?

Thank you very much for replying.

That's great that adult content creators are welcome on Bluesky.

But, are sex workers welcome on Bluesky?

What about porn stars? Phone sex operators? Fin Dommes, In person providers like escorts, erotic masseuses and Pro Dommes?

I have strong opinions on sex worker human rights but I don't want to come across as accusatory or adversarial. I like Bluesky a lot and I genuinely wish every success for the platform.

I would love it if Bluesky would state outright "sex workers are welcome here".

Prostitution is illegal in USA and other backward places like Saudi Arabia but with all respect, does that mean that if someone is a content creator and also occasionally meets clients in person and gets paid money for sex, you will ban their account?

I'm optimistic based on what I've seen of Bluesky that you won't go down the same path as Twitter and build an algorithm to deprecate sex workers so they never appear on anyone's feed. Or search suggestion ban them so even if someone searches for hashtags they've used, or even searches for their name, they won't appear in results.

I guess you'll want people to pay for upgrades or you'll want to display ads and I'm sure you know Visa and Mastercard won't work with you and ad platforms won't work with you either if you allow escorts on Bluesky without restriction but in the longer term, I think welcoming sex workers is the right choice for Bluesky.

I would love to help empower you to build an almighty platform with sex workers on your side.

I'm sure you don't need me to give you a lecture on the history of the internet but suffice to say, we're the pioneers.

Almost everything on the internet was built so horny people could satisfy their urges.

Sex sells and money makes the world go round.

Decriminalisation of sex work is the future and platforms like twitter, insta, facebook, google et al who all discriminate against sex workers won't figure this out until it's too late. Big tech is not too big to fall. Good riddance to the hypocrites who have made billions from content sex workers create whilst treating us like criminals.

I interviewed Cory Doctorow the other day and he mentioned that the FTC has brought a case against Visa for monopolisation of payment processing. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-visa-monopolizing-debit-markets Let's make a bet that monopolies like Visa will get broken up resulting in more competition in the payment processing world, then payment options that aren't anti sex work rise up, then you monetise.

That's what the future looks like in my opinion. Big tech will be too big and slow and dumb to pivot when all sex work is decriminalised and platforms are legally obligated to stop treating us like criminals.

Be an ally now and Bluesky will be poised to build from the ruins of big tech when decrim happens.
If you are really an ally, can you please ensure that all sex workers are welcome on Bluesky?

Not just content creators.

We're all consenting adults doing real work and the fact that we're discriminated against on all of the mainstream platforms is a huge problem for us. The less able we are to promote ourselves like any other sole trader business, the less safe we are. This kind of discrimination enables pimps who coerce and exploit, it enables dangerous and difficult clients who use any misfortune of ours as an opportunity to haggle and push our boundaries, it makes it more difficult for us to screen our clients eg if we're forced to free style hotel bars or work on the street.

The real reason prostitution is illegal in USA has nothing to do with trafficking and has everything to do with cash businesses being more difficult to spy on, manipulate and extract revenue from.

Decriminalization of sex work is demonstrably better than criminalization because it enhances the safety, health, and rights of sex workers. Evidence from countries and regions that have implemented decriminalization, such as New Zealand, shows a reduction in violence, improved access to health services, and stronger labour protections. It allows sex workers to report crimes without fear of legal repercussions, fostering cooperation with law enforcement and reducing exploitation. By contrast, criminalization pushes the industry underground, increasing risks of violence, exploitation, and stigma, and hindering access to essential resources. Decriminalization is a proven, pragmatic approach that prioritizes human rights and public health. (Chat GPT paragraph but you get the idea).

https://www.nswp.org/sites/default/files/sg_to_decriminalisation_prf05.pdf

If Bluesky is willing to say now that sex workers are welcome, not if, but when, decriminalisation happens in USA, you will be the big winners. Big tech will fall over themselves scrabbling for our business when decrim happens but you'll already have us on your side having proven yourself as our ally.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration and I look forward to your reply.

Best wishes,

The reply tells me to read the community Guidelines. Unfortunately there's no mention of sex workers in their guidelines.

Thank you for your inquiry about Bluesky's Community Guidelines.

We appreciate your interest in understanding our policies to help maintain a safe and respectful environment on our platform.

Bluesky's Community Guidelines can be found at the following link: https://bsky.social/about/support/community-guidelines

Our Community Guidelines outline the types of content and behavior that are not allowed on Bluesky.

We encourage all users to familiarize themselves with these guidelines to help create a positive and inclusive community on Bluesky. If you come across any content that violates these guidelines, please report it to our moderation team for review. This can be done in app or on the site via the menu under each post (three dots), and clicking report post. Select the violation category, and provide details and our moderators will review.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

Regards!
Bluesky Customer Support

I tried again =

Hi,

Thank you for replying.

Your community guidelines say "Do not use Bluesky Social to break the law."

Can I please ask, which law?

USA law?

I'm based in UK where sex work is legal.

So can I use Bluesky?

What about the hundreds of millions of sex workers worldwide working in countries that criminalise consenting adults?

It would be great if you would make an unequivocal statement to the effect of "all sex workers are welcome on Bluesky".

No other social media platform has done so, apart from Switter, which sadly doesn't exist any more.

Having a platform online that we can use without fear of bans or shadowbans is a big deal for sex workers. The existence of which, makes us safer. If we are not welcome online, we have to work offline. ie on the streets. Which is much more dangerous. If you can make a statement that you will not discriminate against us, you are saving lives.

I know your press team and legal team will say "just ignore this question and hope it goes away."

In the short term it is a better business model for you to ban or shadowban all sex workers but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

Disregarding the human rights of your own users in favour of maximising profit is how you become twitter (insta, Facebook, Google etc). Those big tech companies are blatantly evil. Can bluesky do better? I think you can.

Regards,

I got a reply but it's just their previous email almost word for word so maybe a bot has taken over the chat.

Apologies for the delay in our response. We're actively working to improve our support response times and are confident you'll see quicker responses from us moving forward.

We appreciate your interest in understanding our policies to help maintain a safe and respectful environment on our platform.

Bluesky's Community Guidelines can be found at the following link: https://bsky.social/about/support/community-guidelines

Our Community Guidelines outline the types of content and behavior that are not allowed on Bluesky.

We encourage all users to familiarize themselves with these guidelines to help create a positive and inclusive community on Bluesky. If you come across any content that violates these guidelines, please report it to our moderation team for review. This can be done in app or on the site via the menu under each post (three dots), and clicking report post. Select the violation category, and provide details and our moderators will review.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Regards!
Bluesky Customer Support

I've asked for a human to please reply to my question. Fingers crossed. I'll update here if I do get an answer.

Hi,

Thank you for replying.

Unfortunately, I think my question might have gotten lost in translation.

Or misunderstood by a bot.

Could a human please reply?

My question is = Are sex workers welcome on Bluesky?

I mean all sex workers. Not just content creators. In person providers too.

The link you sent me, does not answer this question.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

It would really mean a lot to myself and I think to all sex workers to get a clear answer to this.

Sex workers are blatantly discriminated against almost everywhere on the internet.

Just one ally would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

If I can get confirmation that sex workers are welcome on Bluesky, I'll do everything I can to encourage anyone who will listen to delete their X and Insta and use Bluesky instead.

This is my Bluesky account Oz Bigdownunder. Ideally I'd like to delete my Insta, which is shadowbanned and essentially useless and also delete my twitter accounts for Sex Worker Search, OZ and Elust, all of which are shadowbanned so none of my tweets appear in search results on twitter. My tweets don't appear on anyone's twitter feeds. Even if you search for those accounts by name, they won't appear in search results unless you're already following them.

So far Bluesky doesn't shadowban but my concern is that when they try to monetise and discover that credit card companies, advertisers and payment portal providers don't want to touch anything promoting sex work, then they'll shadowban us.