According to the Guardian, Bluesky attracted over a million new members following the US presidential election announcement, boosting its user base to over 15 million. This is a notable increase from the 9 million users reported in early September and 12 million around mid-October.
Bluesky’s iOS app has soared to the top of Apple’s App Store charts for free apps, surpassing popular platforms such as Threads, ChatGPT, Google, TikTok, and Instagram.
Meanwhile X has seen a decline in its user numbers. On April, X had approximately 611 million users, but this figure has since dropped to 586 million. The decline has been particularly evident in the US and UK, with a reported five per cent decrease in the EU during the first half of 2024.
Bluesky has experienced steady growth since its inception two years ago. The user count surged by over 800,000 in February after the network eliminated its invite-only policy. Last month, the platform saw a jump of half a million users in a single day, coinciding with X introducing a controversial feature allowing blocked accounts to continue to cyber stalk the person who blocked them.
Bluesky has been perceived as a sanctuary for users seeking a social media experience free from far-right activism, misinformation, hate speech, and bots.
Media scholar Axel Bruns said: "The more liberal kind of Twitter community has now escaped from there and seems to have moved en masse to Bluesky."
Many remaining X users have expressed dissatisfaction with the platform. A YouGov survey from August revealed that 42 per cent of daily X users held a negative view of the platform.
Elon Musk's outspoken support for Trump has also been contentious, particularly after Musk began distributing millions to supposed swing voters, a move deemed legal but still raising concerns. With Trump's election victory, there are fears that Musk could play a significant role in the new administration, causing unease among X and Bluesky users.
Historian and NYU professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat commented, "I am still on X, but after January, when X could be owned by a de facto member of the Trump administration, its functions as a Trump propaganda outlet and far-right radicalisation machine could be accelerated."
