Taylor Swift fans, major media publications and politicians are among 700,000 users who have flocked to Bluesky after Elon Musk helped Donald Trump seal the US election.
The social media platform has hit 18 million users worldwide, up from nine million in September, Forbes reported.
Alongside Meta’s Threads app, Bluesky has emerged as the major beneficiary from the chaos at X since Musk’s takeover in 2022.
The Twitter alternatives have steadily gained users with each divisive change imposed by the outspoken billionaire, from purging verified accounts to reinstating Trump in November 2022.
Now, with the billionaire given a role in Trump’s planned administration, following his endorsement and financial backing of the soon-to-be president, it seems many X users have had enough.
Dunking on Musk and Trump’s special relationship, Bluesky recently posted on X: “I can guarantee that no Bluesky team members will be sitting with a presidential candidate tonight and giving them direct access to control what you see online.”
The tweet referred to a New York Times report that claimed Musk gave Trump privileged access to X on election night.
So, what’s all the fuss about? Here’s what you need to know about Bluesky.
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky appeared on Apple’s iPhone App Store in February 2023, with an Android version released in April 2023.
Screenshots on the Bluesky App Store page show it has an interface similar to X’s. There are likes, retweet-like “reposts” and comments on posts.
The app’s fledgling user base has even coined a phrase for Bluesky posts: skeets. This combines the words “tweet” and “sky”. It also has a very NSFW meaning that we won’t share here.
The phrase epitomises the app’s irreverent mood; one article describes it as the opposite of the professional networking platform LinkedIn.
However, how the network operates in the background differs from its rivals.
Bluesky is a decentralised social app, meaning it operates off multiple servers run by multiple entities, rather than being controlled by a single company. It uses the AT Protocol technology to store your account data, effectively connecting these “decentralised” elements.
If you have tried Mastodon, another X alternative, you’ll have already experienced a decentralised social network.
You no longer need an invitation
At debut, the platform admitted only users who were sent an invitation but now the hub is open to everyone. It means that potential users no longer need to be the proverbial son of a user (or save the life of a member) and can just download the app or sign up on the website.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was on the team behind the launch of Bluesky in October 2021. It was set up around the time Musk took over X. Jay Graber has been the chief executive since the beginning and announced in February 2024 that it would be open to everyone.
Alas, you could argue that Bluesky missed the boat by restricting access to its platform for so long. Yes, X is still as problematic as it’s always been under Musk but it continues to be a top destination for news junkies.
Meanwhile, Facebook owner Meta has taken away some of Bluesky’s sheen with the launch of Threads. The social platform amassed 100 million users in record time, proving there was room for a genuine Twitter rival.
But Graber has said that Bluesky has merits that make it worthy of your time.
She told Wired: “It's very playful and chaotic. Especially over the past year, we've had a very high poster-to-lurker ratio. On most social apps, people are just looking at content. Here, there's a lot of people posting and talking.”
Another plus is that it will introduce adverts slowly and moderately – and will not, as she put it – “enshittify” the network.
“There will always be free options, and we can't enshittify the network with ads,” she said.
“This is where federation comes in. The fact that anyone can self-host and anyone can build on the software means that we'll never be able to degrade the user experience in a way where people want to leave.”
Who is on Bluesky?
Following its launch, the platform quickly caught the eye of rattled celebrities peeved by Musk’s divisive management of X. Its crop of luminaries includes US Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has more than 13 million X followers; model Chrissy Teigen, who has mocked Musk’s cull of Twitter blue ticks; and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning director Christopher McQuarrie.
US singer Lizzo has been vocal about her decision to quit X for Bluesky, writing on Instagram: “I hate the internet. Anyways I joined bluesky cus we’re leaving toxicity in 2024.”
Acclaimed horror author Stephen King also made the swap to Bluesky, writing in his final post on X: “I’m leaving Twitter. Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic.”
They’re joined by Barbra Streisand, The Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani, Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright and Moon director Duncan Jones.
In addition to celebrities, the Guardian has announced that it will stop posting on X, citing “long-standing concerns” about far-right conspiracy theories and racist content on the platform. On Bluesky the news group has racked up almost 200,000 followers.
Several MPs have also set up Bluesky accounts including safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, Liberal Democrat technology spokeswoman Layla Moran and Mother of the House Diane Abbott. However, at the time of writing all three MPs are still posting on X.
Is Bluesky a good X alternative?
Initially, this may look like former Twitter CEO Dorsey reacting to Musk’s handling of X. However, Dorsey announced Bluesky in December 2019, to attempt to tackle issues with social media that existed years ago.
One aim was to give the user more control, including over content recommended to them, while reducing the power of the platform holder.
This is done by letting users select specific algorithms that power their experience on the platform, allowing them to create custom feeds. “We aim to replace the conventional ‘master algorithm’. controlled by a single company, with an open and diverse ‘marketplace of algorithms,” the platform said.
Bluesky reportedly began with a team of five people and was spun off into its own independent company in 2022, with Dorsey on its board. It is unclear how involved he is in day to day.
He described the Bluesky app as a “web browser” that lets you explore the AT Protocol network. Here’s the issue that turned some off X alternative Mastodon.
It asks you to join a specific server, making the process seem less simple and more like a geekier online community such as Reddit. It’s unclear how friendly Bluesky will seem to a less techy crowd, although the screenshots are at least promising.
Additionally, Bluesky enables users to have website addresses as their handles. It anticipates that this could act as a verification tool for notable figures, which is a stark contrast to X’s verification process, which allows users to purchase a blue tick, a previous signifier of a user’s legitimacy.
Bluesky controversy
In 2023, Bluesky came under fire for temporarily allowing users to register accounts containing racial slurs.
Bluesky previously banned an offending account within 40 minutes of it being reported, and the company says that “the code that allowed this to occur was patched the same evening”.
Numerous racist, ableist and transphobic slurs have also been removed from its list of flagged words in a contentious update in July 2023.
This came amid wider concerns about racism and moderation on the platform.
“You have an incredibly bad anti-blackness problem on your platform,” wrote Scott Hirleman, the Data Mesh Radio podcast host, on a LinkedIn post addressing Bluesky’s executive team. “If you don’t want to run a social media platform, split the company in twain and go focus on the protocol and fund the platform with another team that cares.”
Bluesky’s community guidelines emphasise that it does not allow behaviour that “targets people based on their race, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation”.
The official Bluesky account wrote on the platform: “Our community guidelines reflect our values: that racism and harassment have no place on Bluesky, and we will continue to take action to uphold these policies.”
