Bluesky user surge: Why are people flocking to the platform?

Network gains more than 700,000 users in less than a week after Trump's stunning US election victory

Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, said he created Bluesky to be 'social media as it should be. Getty Images

The reverberations of Donald Trump's remarkable return to power are being felt far and wide, particularly on social media. The modest competitor of his ally Elon Musk's X is among those experiencing the impact – in a favourable manner.

Bluesky, the microblogging platform backed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, just gained more than 700,000 users over the week after American voters decided on their new leader, bringing its total user base to about 14.5 million. X has about 600 million users, placing it 15th globally, according to ranking by trend-spotting platform Exploding Topics.

Of course, Twitter is now X, after it was bought in 2022 by Mr Musk. Users are now flocking to alternative networks, fearing the potential for chaos there. This apprehension is exacerbated by Mr Musk's association with Mr Trump, both of whom have faced accusations of disseminating misinformation through social media platforms. Mr Musk says his ownership has increased free speech on the platform.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky was started within and originally funded by the then-Twitter in 2019, and supported by Mr Dorsey. It became an independent company in 2022, having raised $13 million by April of that year, and was launched to select users in February 2023.

Mr Dorsey, Jeremie Miller, the inventor of communication protocol Jabber/XMPP, and current chief executive and primary owner Jay Graber are its board members.

The platform describes itself as “social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity and have some fun again”.

How does it compare to X?

Bluesky offers a similar experience to Twitter – people create profiles and post short messages with text and images.

Its interface is strikingly similar to X, and even its butterfly logo bears a resemblance to the famous Twitter bird – though Mr Musk had already replaced his with a stylised “X”.

Bluesky users were initially able to post just a message of up to 300 characters and pictures, with the ability to post videos and send direct messages eventually added in May and September, respectively, this year.

It also runs on a decentralised framework, meaning no single individual or organisation owns or regulates it, similar to cryptocurrencies – one of Mr Musk's visions for X during his takeover campaign.

Where does it rank in terms of user numbers?

Bluesky's humble 14.5 million user base pales in comparison to the rest of the field. It is even outside the top 35 social media networks ranked by Exploding Topics, with the last entry on that list, YouTube alternative Rumble, having about 35 million users.

Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, WeChat and Facebook Messenger are on top of that list and are the only platforms that boast more than a billion users.

Is this the first time users have surged?

No – and the major influxes were triggered by certain events that have particularly involved X.

In September, Bluesky posted that it had surpassed the three million mark after X was banned in Brazil, in which Mr Musk made an interesting and rather rare decision to back down from the legal fight.

The influx of users continued, and just last October 18, Bluesky said it hit the 12 million mark, having welcomed about 1.2 million users in the week leading up to that date, primarily after X said it would allow users to view posts from those who had blocked them. At one point, it was able to add 500,000 users in a single day.

This is reminiscent of what Mastodon – another decentralised microblogging platform that has risen to prominence in recent years – experienced in 2022: on the day Mr Musk announced his Twitter purchase deal, about 30,000 users joined Mastodon, then adding a further 230,000 after the completion of Mr Musk's deal, taking its user total to about 655,000.

Controversies and outages within major social media networks have also prompted users to find alternative platforms, the former being evident when users, most notably celebrities, boycotted Twitter over worries about Mr Musk's polarising plans for the platform.

In October 2021, when Facebook went down for six hours – affecting Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram – several users went looking elsewhere, with the biggest beneficiary being Pavel Durov's Telegram, which welcomed about 70 million users the day Mark Zuckerberg's tech giant went dark.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, launched Truth Social in early 2022, making good on his promise to create his own platform after being banned from Twitter, and other social media networks, in the wake of the 2021 US Capitol riots. Truth Social has about two million users, according to Search Logistics. Mr Musk eventually restored Mr Trump's X profile.