Bluesky, a social media network that’s similar to Elon Musk’s X, has added more than 700,000 new users since the election.
Bluesky, a social media network that’s similar to Elon Musk’s X, has added more than 700,000 new users since the election.
The social network Bluesky has been soaring since the US presidential election. On Thursday, it was listed at No. 1 on the free app section of the US App Store, above such popular apps as Threads and ChatGPT. Back in early October, the site was way down the list, at No. 181, according to TechCrunch, which cites figures from app intelligence firm Appfigures.
According to The Guardian, the new users are mostly from North America and the UK, and the influx has helped Bluesky shoot up to 14.5 million users worldwide, up from 9 million in September. Although there’s no way to determine how many new users left because of X owner Elon Musk’s public support for President-elect Donald Trump, many Bluesky users are referencing the election in their first posts. Wired reports that many Taylor Swift fans, a group that once had a large presence on X, are switching to Bluesky.
A representative for Bluesky did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bluesky is a social media platform that shares many similarities with X, formerly known as Twitter. X underwent a number of changes after billionaire Musk bought the site and retired legacy blue check marks showing verified accounts, reinstated previously banned accounts and started a new subscription program.
On Oct. 16, X announced that it was changing its block function, which allowed people to stop others from seeing their messages on the site. Accounts that have been blocked can now see that person’s posts on X if the posts are set to public, though they cannot reply, like or repost them. “That’s not blocking”, one X user replied. “That’s supporting stalking.”
On Oct. 17, Bluesky shared a post announcing that it had welcomed 500,000 people in just one day. “First day here”, one Bluesky user wrote in response to the company’s post about its growth. “Just getting my feet wet. Was a longtime Twitter user but it’s a shell of what it used to be.”
X has also updated its terms of service so that any lawsuits by users against the service must be handled by a federal court in north Texas “whose judges frequently deliver victories to conservative litigants in political cases”, The Globe and Mail reports.
These latest changes may have sparked the rise of interest in Bluesky, which saw a surge in user accounts earlier this year when X was blocked by courts in Brazil (the block was later lifted when X paid a fine). According to The New York Times, users say Bluesky is the app that comes closest to mimicking X.
