PUBLIC DISCOURSE ANCHORED BACK TO THE WEB
Read the web in context
See what people are saying about the articles you're reading — while you read them.
Demo source: “Five Words That Changed America” by Jamelle Bouie , The New York Times.
Why we built Skysquare
The internet transformed how we publish, but it also transformed how we discover, discuss, and interpret what we read.
As public conversation drifted into algorithmic feeds, articles and the discussions they inspired became increasingly disconnected from one another.
Skysquare began with a simple question: what if the conversation belonged to the source material instead of the platform? The answer became an entirely different way of reading the web.
What Skysquare does
See the conversation as you read.
Open the Skysquare sidebar to see Bluesky conversation around the page while you read.
Find quoted passages in context and quickly see which parts of the article are resonating.
Explore more from the author and discover related sources shared in their reading graph.
Tune what appears in your feed so the voices and signals you care about stay in view.
Discover new articles through trusted voices and follow the threads that matter most.
Screenshots source: “Raccoons Are Showing Early Signs of Domestication” by Marina Wang , edited by Andrea Thompson , Scientific American.
Skysquare brings relevant public Bluesky discussion into view alongside the page you are reading. Quoted passages are highlighted in the text, while the sidebar shows the posts, people, and surrounding discussion connected to the source.
Scroll through the page, open a highlight, and follow the response without leaving the article.
See what was quoted. See who said it. See where the conversation goes.
The result is a more grounded way to read the web: one where public conversation remains tied to primary material.
Why it matters
Conversation loses meaning when it loses the source
Social feeds are fast, fragmented, and detached. They reward reaction before reading and make it hard to tell what people are actually responding to. Skysquare restores the missing layer: the relationship between public commentary and the underlying text.
Reading becomes a shared act again
Skysquare lets multiple perspectives appear around the same source material. Instead of chasing scattered posts across a feed, you can see the conversation where the evidence lives.
Discovery starts with substance
Skysquare helps you find people through what they are saying about the things you are already reading — not through trending topics, follower counts, or algorithmic amplification.
Take your attention back from the feed.
Most platforms recruit your attention — your noticing, reacting, interpreting, and sharing — as raw material for more engagement. Skysquare puts that work back in the service of the reader by keeping public conversation connected to the source that gave rise to it.
The Feed Model
Conversation drifts from the source
Commentary circulates as posts, fragments, screenshots, and reactions while the original text becomes optional backstory.
Headlines replace understanding
Engagement gathers around a claim before many people have read the work beneath it.
Feed dynamics replace relevance
What rises depends on velocity, familiarity, and platform incentives — not necessarily what bears most on the subject.
Reaction outruns attention
The next take arrives before the previous idea has had time to be read, weighed, or answered.
Context dissolves into noise
Without the shared text in view, agreement and disagreement become harder to evaluate.
The Skysquare Model
Conversation stays with the source
Public discussion remains visibly connected to the page, passage, or claim that prompted it.
Reading comes before reaction
The text stays in view while you decide what a response adds, misses, or distorts.
Interpretations can be judged in context
Different readings can be compared against the same material, not merely against one another in a feed.
Attention has somewhere to settle
Skysquare is built for deliberate reading, not endless novelty.
Context becomes legible
See what people quoted, where attention gathered, and where interpretations converge or diverge.
How Skysquare works
Read the source with its public conversation in view.
Skysquare is a Chrome extension built on Bluesky and the open web. As you read, it finds public posts that shared the page or quoted its text, then connects that discussion directly to the article through inline highlights and a live sidebar.
See who shared it.
See what they noticed.
Follow the conversation without leaving the page.
On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
That date was chosen deliberately.
Skysquare is built upon a simple conviction: that a free society depends upon citizens who can encounter the same reporting, engage in public reasoning, and pursue an independent path through the world's ideas. We believe the architecture of the web should strengthen those civic virtues, not erode them.
Get the ExtensionRead with context. Follow ideas, not algorithms. Reconnect the conversation to the source.
Why choose Skysquare?
Skysquare helps serious readers understand public conversation without leaving the source.
See Bluesky conversation directly on the page
Quoted passages are highlighted inline, so discussion stays connected to the original material.
Filter commentary through people you trust
Use your own Bluesky lists to focus on the voices and communities that matter to you.
Discover new voices through shared interests
Find thoughtful contributors based on what they say about the pages you are already reading.
Compare perspectives without leaving the source
Different interpretations appear side by side against the same text.
Reduce noise without narrowing your view
Skysquare does not replace judgment with ranking. It gives you context so you can decide what matters.
Built for the open social web
Skysquare is Bluesky-native and built around open protocols, reader autonomy, and source-based discovery.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly does Skysquare do?
Skysquare shows Bluesky conversation directly on the web pages being discussed. When people quote, share, or comment on a page, Skysquare makes that public discourse visible in context — highlighting quoted text and showing related posts in a sidebar.
Do I need a Bluesky account to use Skysquare?
Yes. A Bluesky account is currently required to use Skysquare. Signing in enables core functionality, including contextual conversation matching, list-based filtering, and personalized social context.
Is Skysquare a feed or a social network?
No. Skysquare is a context layer for the web. It does not replace Bluesky, and it does not ask you to build another social graph. It helps you understand Bluesky conversation in relation to the source material being discussed.
How does Skysquare decide what to show me?
Skysquare surfaces public Bluesky posts connected to the page you are reading, especially posts that quote or share that source. You can also filter results through your own Bluesky lists, allowing you to focus on voices you already trust.
Who is Skysquare for?
Skysquare is built for people who care about source material: journalists, researchers, analysts, writers, academics, policy readers, and anyone who wants public conversation with more context and less drift.
Is Skysquare affiliated with Bluesky or atproto?
Skysquare is built on atproto and designed for Bluesky, but it is an independent application.
Does Skysquare track me or sell my data?
No. Skysquare is designed as a reader-first tool. We do not sell personal data.
Is Skysquare free?
Skysquare has a free tier for basic use. Paid features support deeper filtering, personalization, analytics, and advanced research workflows.