Bluesky gets surge in users switching from X after US election

The social media platform Bluesky announced that it welcomed 700,000 new users in the week after the US election.

Bluesky, initially envisioned as a project within Twitter by its former CEO Jack Dorsey, reports that most of its new users are from the United States and the United Kingdom.

The company has expanded its membership from 9 million in September to 14.5 million within the week, reaching 12 million by November 12th.

"We're thrilled to have all these newcomers joining us, whether they're fans of Taylor Swift, wrestlers, or city planners," said Bluesky representative Emily Liu.

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The departure of X users is thought to have been driven by the support of its owner, Elon Musk, for president-elect Donald Trump, who secured a significant victory on November 5.

People using the platform, which Musk acquired for $44 billion (£34 billion) in 2022, have noticed an increase in misinformation, inappropriate content, and difficulties in blocking unwanted users.

This week, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared on Bluesky that she’s “back” on the platform, expressing her excitement by saying, “Wow, it feels great to be in an online space with other genuine people.”

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This isn't the first instance of users migrating from Musk's platform to Bluesky.

In August, during the riots that broke out in various towns and cities throughout the UK, Bluesky reported a 60% rise in user engagement from the region.

On X, Musk expressed his disapproval of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, labeling him as #twotierkier due to his reaction to the riots. He suggested that a civil war was unavoidable in the UK.

Multiple prominent individuals, such as Home Office minister Jess Phillips and Labour MP Lewis Atkinson, announced that they would be changing platforms.

Mr. Lewis shared a message back then saying, "Hi everyone… here’s another possible option besides that other place…"

Learn more about who's part of Trump's inner circle and who's not. We've also advised people to steer clear of Wordle. There's an intense confrontation over climate change that is on the verge of erupting.

X saw a reduction of about 20% in its user base after it changed its brand from Twitter.

After X was suspended in Brazil this year, Bluesky reported an influx of three million new users.

This week, British comedian Greg Davies shared a message: "Hey everyone, I'll be wrapping things up here in the next few days. I appreciate all the kind messages I've received over the years. If you're curious about what I've been doing, feel free to join my mailing list or follow me on Instagram. Thanks, Greg."

Bluesky started out as a project within Twitter in 2019, but it became its own separate platform when it officially launched in 2021.

The platform is run by Jay Graber and adopts a decentralized model for social media. This means that various platforms and communities can work together seamlessly, instead of being confined to a single corporate entity like Twitter or Facebook.

Even so, the platform resembles X or Twitter quite a bit – it recently added direct messaging, which brings it closer to competing platforms.

It ranks just behind Threads, which is Meta's competing platform, in the US Apple App Store. This store has 275 million active users each month.