KEY POINTS
- Massive spikes in bluesky down reports on Downdetector indicate a major handshake failure between user apps and the AT Protocol relays.
- While the official status page initially showed “operational,” engineers later acknowledged “intermittent networking issues” affecting approximately 40% of the user base.
- The outage occurred during a period of high traffic as users continue to migrate from competing platforms like X (formerly Twitter).
NEW YORK — The social media platform Bluesky experienced a significant service disruption Monday, leaving thousands of users unable to access their feeds or log into the network.
The bluesky down reports began surging in the early hours of Jan. 26, 2026, primarily affecting mobile application users across North America, Europe, and parts of Asia.
Bluesky, which has positioned itself as a decentralized alternative to mainstream social media, faced a critical reliability test today.
As the phrase “bluesky down” trended on rival platforms, users reported “Invalid Handle” errors and infinite loading screens, marking one of the most significant outages for the service in 2026.
Since its rapid expansion in late 2025, Bluesky has struggled to scale its decentralized infrastructure to meet the demands of its 20 million plus users.
Although the AT Protocol is designed to prevent central points of failure, most users still rely on the official bsky.app relay, which creates a bottleneck when server hardware reaches capacity.
| Platform Component | Report Percentage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile Application | 42% | Down |
| Server Connection | 31% | Degraded |
| Website (Desktop) | 27% | Unstable |
“I opened the app to check the morning news and was met with a blank screen,” said Sarah Jenkins, a digital strategist in London.
“The frequency of bluesky down incidents is becoming a concern for those of us trying to build professional communities there.”
Technical analysts suggest the issue may lie in the platform’s ‘Big Graph’ indexer. “When you have millions of people joining in a short window, the relay servers can’t keep up with the data sync,” said Marcus Chen, lead researcher at NetMetrics.
Bluesky engineers are reportedly working on a fix to restore full connectivity. The company has not yet provided a definitive timeline for a total recovery, but services began to slowly stabilize for some regions by 10:00 AN ET.
As the platform matures, maintaining 99.9% uptime will be essential to retain its growing user base. Today’s disruption serves as a reminder that even decentralized networks face significant technical hurdles during rapid scaling.
NOTE! This report was compiled from multiple reliable sources, including official statements, press releases, and verified media coverage.
