Key Takeaways
- Micro-blogging startup Bluesky, which is also a rival of X, has gained 1.25 million new users in just a week.
- After the results of the US presidential election came out, a lot of X users left the platform because Musk is a staunch supporter of Trump.
- These users then joined Bluesky and Meta’s Threads, another X rival.
X’s newest rival Bluesky has gained more than 1.25 million users over the last week, pushing it to the #1 spot on the Apple App Store’s US chart this week. It’s closely followed by Meta’s Threads, which is at #2, while X is far away at the 27th rank.
Almost 100,000 new users have been joining the platform every day since the US elections. Most of the new users that have joined the platform in the past week are from the US, Canada, and the UK.
“We’re excited to welcome everyone looking for a better social media experience,” Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky, said.
What Caused This Shift?
It’s believed that this sudden surge in the user base of Bluesky (and Threads) is a direct result of the mass exodus from X following the results of the US presidential election.
It’s no secret that Elon Musk is a huge supporter of Trump. In fact, to reward him for his relentless support, Trump recently announced that Musk will be co-leading the newly formed D.O.G.E. (Department of Government Efficiency) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.
However, Trump’s extremist policies have earned him a significant number of haters, too. And these people don’t want to be on a platform (i.e. X) that has been used to campaign for him.
“It’s appalling that Elon Musk has transformed Twitter into a Trump propaganda machine, rife with disinformation and misinformation,” a user said in a post on Bluesky.
Therefore, just a day after the election, 115,000 US users left the platform. This is the highest number of single-day exits the platform has witnessed in the entirety of Musk’s tenure.
Things went further south for X when prominent journalists such as the New York Times’ Mara Gay and the Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel announced their departure from the platform, too. UK newspaper The Guardian also said that it would no longer post on X because it is a “toxic platform”.
When such popular and well-respected names express their concerns against a platform like X – which is already controversial, by the way – it’s natural for other users to reconsider their choices, too.
About Bluesky
Now, almost everyone is aware of Threads, given that it has been a rival of X for a long time. However, Bluesky is relatively new to the scene.
It was created in 2019 as an internal project within Twitter when Jack Dorsay was still the CEO. Then, it was officially launched in February 2024 and has since managed to garner 15.2 million users.
I’ve tried it out first-hand and it looks and feels very similar to X in terms of its design and interface. However, it’s yet to show any ads and develop a business model. All in all, it’s still early days for Bluesky.
Speaking of its user base, this is the second time it has witnessed a massive surge in its user base within a short span. The first time happened in September when shortly after Brazil banned X for not complying with the local laws, Bluesky gained 2 million new users.
However, Bluesky still has a long way to go. Its 15.2 million users is minuscule compared to the number of users on Threads (275 million monthly users), let alone X (600 monthly users).
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Krishi is an eager Tech Journalist and content writer for both B2B and B2C, with a focus on making the process of purchasing software easier for businesses and enhancing their online presence and SEO.
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