October 2026 on Bluesky was a month of two moods. On one side, a midterm election run-up that kept the political timeline at full volume for four straight weeks. On the other, the platform's creative communities treating the whole month as one long Halloween party – drawing challenges, spooky-month stream schedules and costume threads.
This recap is built from Bluesky's own Trending Topics feature (the list you see in the Explore tab), weekly snapshots of that list taken during the month, and our own trending hashtags tracker. Post counts are Bluesky's own figures where they were available.
The Biggest Bluesky Trends of October 2026
1. The midterm elections (60,000+ posts)
The single largest trend of the month. Bluesky's "Midterm elections days away" topic started trending on October 1 and was still on the list on October 31 with more than 60,800 posts attached – an unusually long run for a platform where most trends last a day or two. Specific races broke out as their own trends as well, including a late-October feud between the partners of two Michigan Senate candidates.
None of this is surprising: Bluesky's active base skews politically engaged, and journalists, pollsters and campaign staff are heavily represented. We covered how the results played out in 2026 Midterm Results on Bluesky.
2. Halloween and "spooky month" streams (39,000+ posts)
The second-largest trend was not news at all. A "Streamers host Halloween live streams" / "Spooky month stream schedules" topic trended from late September through the end of October, passing 39,400 posts. A separate Halloween trick-or-treating traditions trend added nearly 8,800 more in the final week, and "Halloween costume plans" trended mid-month.
That is a meaningful signal about who is on Bluesky: artists, VTubers and streamers have built a real home here. Our Halloween on Bluesky post covers how to find those communities.
3. The World Series
The Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series in franchise history on October 28, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5. Baseball Bluesky – which is unusually strong on writers and analysts – carried the conversation. Full recap: Brewers Win the 2026 World Series.
4. Local fights over AI data centers
A recurring theme rather than a single spike. "Local fights over AI data centers" trended in the last week of October, and by early November it had turned into a "US data center ban votes" trend with more than 5,000 posts. Expect this to keep coming back: it sits at the intersection of two topics Bluesky users care about a great deal – AI and local politics.
5. International politics
Bluesky's international communities showed up clearly on the trend list. The Alberta separation referendum led the list in the week of October 19, and in the following week "Brazil's advice on ignoring far-right trolls" topped it – a reminder that Bluesky's large Brazilian user base still sets the agenda some weeks. Our demographics breakdown has more on just how international the active base is.
6. Tech and business
Tech trends in October included Anthropic's IPO filing, Elon Musk's admission about restricting Starlink in Ukraine, and – inevitably – a Tesla flying car unveiling. Art Spiegelman's use of AI artwork also trended, and drew the strong reaction you would expect from a platform with this many working illustrators.
7. The rest of the list
- Sonic the Hedgehog fan creations – a fan-art trend that ran for days
- 'You Can See Everything' premieres – TV premiere chatter in mid-October
- Umamusume concert visa delays – a fandom trend driven by the platform's Japanese and anime communities
- Jalen Hurts' lung blood clots – the biggest NFL story of the month on Bluesky (see our NFL game day guide)
- Inktober-style drawing challenges such as
#InkOctoberElves
What October Tells Us About Bluesky
- Politics dominates volume, culture dominates variety. The midterms produced the most posts by far, but most of the slots on the trend list on any given day were creative, fandom or "post your favorite" prompts.
- Long-running trends are a Bluesky quirk. The midterm and spooky-month topics both trended for weeks. Bluesky's trend algorithm rewards sustained conversation, not just spikes.
- The international layer is real. Canada, Brazil, Japan and the UK all placed topics on a list that is often assumed to be US-only.
How to See What's Trending on Bluesky Right Now
Bluesky has three ways to see trends, and they measure different things:
- Trending Topics in the Explore tab. Bluesky's own curated list of topics, with post counts. Tap a topic to see the posts behind it. This is the list we used for this recap.
- Hashtag trends. Bluesky's Trending Topics are summaries, not hashtags. To see which actual tags are spiking, use our free trending hashtags tool, which shows 1-hour, 24-hour and longer windows.
- Search sorted by Latest. For anything live, search the term and switch to Latest. Our advanced search guide covers the operators that make this useful.
If you want to keep up with a trend without searching for it every day, pin its hashtag or build a list of the accounts that cover it best.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the biggest trend on Bluesky in October 2026?
The midterm elections. Bluesky's midterms topic trended from October 1 through the end of the month and passed 60,000 posts, far more than any other topic.
Where can I see Bluesky trending topics?
In the Explore tab of the Bluesky app, under Trending. For hashtag-level trends, use Skyscraper's free trending hashtags tool at api.getskyscraper.com/trending/hashtags.
Are Bluesky trending topics the same as hashtags?
No. Bluesky's Trending Topics are short summaries of what people are discussing, generated from many posts, and often do not correspond to a single hashtag. Hashtag trends need to be tracked separately.
Are Bluesky trends personalized?
The Trending Topics list reflects platform-wide conversation rather than the accounts you follow. Your own feeds, lists and followed hashtags are where personalization happens.
Follow the Next Big Trend
- Skyscraper for iOS – pin hashtags and lists, mute spoilers
- Trending Hashtags – see what's spiking right now
- Keyword Alerts – get notified when a topic you care about takes off