"How do I make an account?"

Your bluesky account is your jklb.social account (& so much more). Type your handle (example: alice.bsky.social) into the box and press 'Log in':

You will be prompted with something like this:

This is your Bluesky saying, 'Hey this website wants to read and write Bluesky data on your behalf, is that cool?'

It's cool. Press 'Authorize'

I keep struggling to articulate what jklb.social is to people new to Open Social, but basically...it's an alternative client for Bluesky.

You can do all the same things, except on jklb.social there's less friction towards sociable actions and more friction towards endless doomscrolling.

Does that make sense? PLEASE leave a comment, or tag me (@jakesimonds.com) in a bluesky post with a question. Your bravery in asking will help others learn!

And I'm actually sorry, on a personal level, that some of this stuff is so confusing. Open Social is just such an exciting & optimistic space that the possibilities are expanding faster than the explanations.

jklb.social Best Practices

My personal reposts (aka boosts) over time ^

Be a little brave. Like, boost and reply more.

The thought that led to jklb.social was: "If interacting with a post was literally as easy as seeing the next post...maybe I'd lurk less." And so far? Yeah, it's kinda working.

So be a little brave. Likes aren't legally binding contracts. Boosts (aka reposts/retweets) aren't necessarily endorsements. By participating in social media, you are actively witnessing the author. They will feel seen.

When you participate more, you'll scroll less

I can only speak for myself, but one thing I really like about using jklb.social is that after not that many posts, if I've been actively participating in the media by liking & occasionally replying or boosting things I feel done and satisfied. I even feel...a little bit tired. But I don't have the urge to check again in a half an hour.

For the full jklb.social experience, you gotta participate in the media. Let me know how it goes!

Embrace the limitations

This is social media ^

Social media is strange. That's the only thing I've learned, making jklb.social. It's a very, very strange thing we all do.

I keep thinking about the parable of the "blind men and an elephant".

We talk like there's one "twitter," one "bluesky," one "linkedIn." But actually? Each one is completely unknowable/ever-changing. Revealing different things to every single user. Nobody ever getting the full picture.

jklb.social will feel different than Bluesky the same way an elephant's tail will feel different than one of it's great big feet. Embrace the differences!

And don't be afraid to hotkey:v ('view on bluesky') back to Bluesky when jklb.social doesn't handle a corner-case quite right (I do this multiple times a session).

Still reading? Jeez. Just try it already!

If you're an atproto super user (like me), maybe jklb.social could be a fun alt for when you're feeling like something different.

If you "hate things like twitter and bluesky," maybe you just hate the trunk of the elephant? Only way to find out is trying jklb.social.

Trying anything new is an act of bravery. Thank you for even considering jklb.social, for reading this far. If you keep going, and actually do try jklb.social, I'll consider it a personal favor. Thank you. There are so many things you could do, and you're trying my little website? Wow. Let me know how it could be better.

Thanks in advance.

:)