Bluesky gets surge in users switching from X after US election

Social media platform Bluesky says it has gained 700,000 new users in the week following the US election.

Bluesky, which was originally conceived as part of Twitter by its former chief executive Jack Dorsey, says the new sign-ups are largely from the US and UK.

The company has increased its membership from 9 million people in September to 14.5 million in the week and to 12 November.

“We’re excited to welcome all of these new people, ranging from Swifties to wrestlers to city planners,” Bluesky spokesperson Emily Liu said.

The exodus of X users is believed to have been fuelled by owner Elon Musk‘s support of President-elect Donald Trump, who enjoyed a decisive win on 5 November.

Users on the platform, which Musk bought for $44bn (£34bn) in 2022, have also reported more misinformation, offensive posts, and problems blocking users.

Posting on Bluesky this week, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced she is “back” on the platform, adding: “Good GOD it’s nice to be in a digital space with other real human beings.”

It is not the first time users have left Musk’s platform for Bluesky.

In August, amid rioting in towns and cities across the UK, Bluesky said it registered a 60% increase in activity from users in the UK.

On X, Musk criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, branding him #twotierkier for his response to the rioting, claiming civil war was inevitable in the UK.

Several public figures, including Home Office minister Jess Philips and Labour MP Lewis Atkinson said they were switching platforms.

Mr Lewis posted at the time: “Hello everyone here… another potential alternative to that other place…”

X also experienced a drop in users by around a fifth following its rebranding from Twitter.

And after X was suspended in Brazil this year, Bluesky said it gained three million extra users.

This week, British comedian Greg Davies posted: “Hello all, I’ll be leaving X in the next few days. Thanks for the lovely messages over the years. If you want to know what I’ve been up to you can sign up to my mailing list or follow me on Instagram. Cheers Greg”.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky was initially conceived as part of Twitter in 2019, but became an independent platform when it officially launched in 2021.

It is owned by Jay Graber, and takes a decentralised approach to social media, one where different platforms and communities can interoperate rather than all live under one corporate banner like Twitter or Facebook.

Despite this, the platform looks a lot like X or Twitter – with direct messaging recently introduced, making it more similar to its rival platforms.

It is second to Threads, Meta’s equivalent, on the US Apple App store, which has 275 million active users a month.