I by no means loved the expertise of studying lengthy threads on Twitter (the identical goes for X), and I do not assume any of its successors have executed a very nice job making them simpler to learn. Since Bluesky is the most popular house of X-pats, I have been studying a variety of prolonged threads there, and after I encountered a number of threads with 10+ posts, I went on the lookout for a software that will make it simpler to comply with alongside. That is once I got here throughout Skywriter, a utility that unrolls lengthy threads and converts them into an article format.
Skywriter turns Bluesky threads into articles
The following time you encounter an extended thread on Bluesky, drop the hyperlink to the primary submit on Skywriter’s web site and it will convert the whole thread into an article for you. Or, even higher, simply tag @unroll.skywriter.blue within the replies and use the phrase “unroll” with out quotes in your submit. You needn’t create an account with Skywriter, however when you do, you’ll preserve an inventory of all of the threads you have saved. (That stated, you may obtain the identical factor by saving the URLs of the pages Skywriter generates too, so there actually isn’t any have to create an account at this level.) This software is kind of much like the superb Thread Reader bot that will convert Twitter threads into articles.
Skywriter is kind of quick at doing its job and the webpage it generates is reader-friendly. It will even match your machine’s present theme—when you’re utilizing darkish mode, your Skywriter article will use darkish mode, too. On the webpage, you may see the writer’s profile image, Bluesky username, and show title. Under that’s the variety of likes the submit has obtained, a hyperlink to the unique thread, and a button to put it aside to your Skywriter account. You may see a pattern of a Bluesky submit turned Skywriter article right here. (If you happen to’re curious in regards to the unique, examine this hyperlink.)
With some threads on Bluesky, I used to be unable to see particular person posts as a result of they contained key phrases that I muted. Skywriter was capable of finding and save even these posts, which allowed me to learn the whole thread. I might muted these key phrases to keep away from reactionary takes, however within the context of an insightful, lengthy thread, I really needed to see these posts. Skywriter fills that hole and permits me to learn the issues I am considering, even when these posts are hidden from my Bluesky feed.
Skywriter is not excellent
My solely grievance is that Skywriter is pretty literal in its process. Very often, the thread creator is pressured to cease a submit mid-sentence or add numbers to the top of every submit. While you’re studying it on Bluesky, it is sensible due to the 300-character restrict on every submit. On Skywriter’s web site, these gaps look fairly odd. It begins each submit in a brand new paragraph, and, because of its literal conversion, you will see paragraphs that begin in the course of a sentence, or numbers showing in between posts.
This is not Skywriter’s fault per se, as a result of its job is to make posts simpler to learn, with out altering the unique content material, nevertheless it does make the studying expertise lower than perfect at occasions. In any other case, it does a stellar job at loading textual content and media content material in the proper locations, and is a useful gizmo to add to your Bluesky assortment.
