# Bluesky Briefly Grounded by “Major Networking Problems” Before Quick Recovery

## Bluesky Briefly Grounded by “Major Networking Problems” Before Quick Recovery

Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform, experienced a significant outage Thursday evening, leaving users staring at spinning loading circles and empty feeds for about an hour. The issue affected both desktop and mobile app users, preventing feeds from loading after logging in.

According to updates on its official status page, Bluesky identified “major PDS networking problems” as the root cause, triggering an investigation into the “major outage with Bluesky hosted PDS instances.” The term “PDS” refers to Personal Data Servers, a core component of Bluesky’s decentralized architecture, responsible for hosting user data and feeds.

Fortunately, the downtime was short-lived. By 7:38 PM ET, the team announced they had pinpointed a likely root cause and were deploying a fix across the Bluesky PDS fleet. Shortly after, at 7:54 PM ET, Bluesky CTO Paul Frazee confirmed the platform was back online, stating they were “still clearing out the situation” in a post on Bluesky itself. The Bluesky status page now reflects that all systems are operational.

This isn’t the first time Bluesky has faced recent disruptions. Back in November, users experienced slow-loading feeds and notifications due to downtime affecting one of the platform’s internet providers, caused by a cut fiber cable. That previous outage coincided with what Bluesky reported as its “highest traffic day ever,” suggesting growing pains as the platform gains popularity.

While Bluesky didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the Thursday outage, the quick response and restoration of service will likely reassure users as the platform continues to develop and refine its infrastructure. The incident serves as a reminder of the challenges inherent in building a decentralized social network, particularly when scaling to accommodate increasing user demand.