Why X users are switching to the new Bluesky platform in the aftermath of the American elections

Some dissatisfied

Bluesky said in mid-November that its total number of users rose to 15 million, up from 13 million in October.

It has at times been the most downloaded app in US Apple stores in recent days.

The platform has benefited from dissatisfaction with X since it was bought by right-wing Elon Musk, who is closely linked to Donald Trump’s successful election campaign, Reuters reports.

Despite the growth, the platform still has a ways to go to compete with X, which still has more than 300 million monthly active users.

So what is Bluesky and who made the switch?

What is Bluesky?

The Bluesky platform is like Elon Musk’s X, with a “discover” feed and a chronological feed for accounts that others follow.

It was first introduced as an invitation-only space and opened to the public in February this year.

Users can send direct messages, pin messages, and find “starter packs” with a curated list of people and custom feeds to follow.

The platform was conceptualized by Jack Dorsey, the CEO of X when it was known as Twitter.

It started as a Twitter-funded project that would become an “open and decentralized social media standard.”

It later became its own entity and as of May 2024, Mr. Dorsey was no longer on the board.

It is now majority owned by CEO Jay Graber.

Bluesky says that unlike traditional social platforms, which operate on centralized servers controlled by a single entity, Bluesky’s AT Protocol is designed to “decentralize social networks.”

This approach aims to prevent one organization from having complete control over its users’ network or data, creating a “more democratic and accountable digital ecosystem.”

Why does it grow?

Bluesky said in mid-November that its total number of users has risen to 15 million, up from about 13 million at the end of October, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and talk to others online.

“We are seeing record high activity levels across all different forms of engagement: likes, followers, new accounts, etc., and we are on track to add 1 million new users in one day alone,” Bluesky said in a statement. week.

The post-election user surge isn’t the first time Bluesky has benefited from people leaving X.

The platform gained 2.6 million users in the week after X was banned in Brazil in August – 85 percent of them from Brazil, the company said.

About 500,000 new users signed up in a single day in October, when X indicated that blocked accounts would be able to see a user’s public posts.

Who uses Bluesky?

Across the platform, new users – including journalists, left-wing politicians and celebrities – posted and shared memes that they were looking forward to using a space free of ads and hate speech.

Some said it reminded them of the early days of Twitter more than a decade ago, according to the Associated Press.

Despite Bluesky’s growth, X reported after the election that it had “dominated the global conversation about the US elections” and set new records.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, celebrities and figures such as Lizzo, Barbara Streisand, Quinta Burnson, Ben Stiller, Flavor Flav, Carrie Coon and John Cusack have started migrating to Bluesky.

Billionaire Mark Cuban, who supported Kamala Harris during the US election campaign, and Democratic Congressional Representative Alexandra Orcasio-Cortez have also started using it.

“Hello less hateful world,” Cuban posted on the website last week.

American publications such as The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair and the Wall Street Journal have also opened accounts.

Why do people leave X?

Since it was bought by Musk, who laid off staff and changed its name to decline. in user traffic.

X was criticized by disinformation experts during the election for playing a central role in enabling the spread of false information across key battleground states.

On November 6, when news broke that Musk ally Trump won the presidency, X attracted 46.5 million visits in the US.

This was more than any day in the past year and 38 percent higher than an average day in recent months, according to analysis agency ZekereWeb.

But more than 115,000 U.S. web visitors have deactivated their X accounts — the most since Musk bought the platform, SimilarWeb data showed.

“The excessive growth, especially for Bluesky, may have been driven by an increase in controversial content or technical issues with competitor X,” Abraham Yousef, senior insights analyst at market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, told Reuters.

“The departure of popular accounts, media personalities or organizations may have led consumers to conclude that X is no longer their platform of choice, which could also drive growth on other platforms, particularly Bluesky and Threads.”

In recent weeks, several news publications have left X due to “toxic content.”

The Guardian left the platform earlier this month due to the spread of racism and conspiracy theories on the platform.

“The US presidential election campaign has only underlined what we have been considering for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use his influence to shape political discourse,” according to The Guardian. in a statement on its website.

Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia will stop posting on X and plans to suspend its accounts. Thursday said the social media network had become an “echo chamber” for disinformation and conspiracy theories.

Upcoming changes to terms

Users are also fleeing X due to an upcoming change to the site’s terms of service, which threatens to complicate the platform’s legal challenges.

The new terms require that all legal disputes relating to the Platform be brought exclusively in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas or in the state courts located in Tarrant County, Texas.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate told Reuters the change could hinder legal challenges against the platform by sending future lawsuits to judges who Musk believes will be “on his side.”

“Now the billionaire will be able to file lawsuits against anyone who disagrees with him on his platform,” said the nonprofit that has accused Musk of spreading hate speech on X.

X and Musk did not respond to requests for comment.

Beyond social networks

However, Bluesky has bigger ambitions than replacing X.

In addition to the platform itself, the company is building a technical foundation – what it calls “a public conversation protocol” – that could make social networks work across platforms – known as interoperability – such as email, blogs or phone numbers.

Currently, you can’t switch between social platforms to leave a comment on someone’s account.

Twitter users should stay on Twitter and TikTok users should stay on TikTok if they want to interact with accounts on those services. Big Tech companies have largely built moats around their online properties, which benefits their advertising-focused business models.

Bluesky is trying to reimagine all this by working towards interoperability.

ABC/wires