The social media platform Bluesky is approaching 25 million users, experiencing ongoing growth since the election as many users seek alternatives to X.

Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, he initiated significant changes to create his vision of “free speech absolutism.” This sparked competition among various social media platforms eager to attract users prepared to abandon Twitter. Initially, Mastodon and Instagram’s Threads were leading candidates, but none have solidified their position against X thus far.

Interest in switching from X surged when Donald Trump won the presidential election, especially as Musk took on a leadership position in Trump’s administration. Concurrently, Bluesky, a decentralized alternative with a design reminiscent of Twitter, saw a rapid increase in users.

As of Thursday, Bluesky boasts a total of 24.3 million users, marking a rise of roughly 10 million since Election Day.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform that resembles X, previously known as Twitter, but offers unique features designed to attract a wider audience.

“Bluesky is an open social network that prioritizes user choice, grants developers creative freedom, and provides creators independence from platforms,” Emily Liu, a spokesperson, said in a previous email to YSL News.

Launched to the public in February 2024, Bluesky is partly owned by CEO Jay Graber, along with board members like Jeremie Miller (the inventor of Jabber), Mike Masnick (founder of Techdirt), and Kinjal Shah (general partner at Blockchain Capital), as stated by Bluesky.

The initiative began in 2019, led by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Bluesky and Twitter officially parted ways in late 2022.

Increase in Bluesky users following the election

Over the past year, Musk has aligned himself with Trump, amplifying Trump’s messages on X and assuming a significant role in the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk’s decisions to ease content moderation on X have prompted backlash, with critics highlighting a rise in misinformation, hate speech, and harassment on the platform. Additionally, Pew Research indicates that the platform’s popularity has surged among Republicans since Musk took the reins.

XData reported a record 942 million posts globally, along with a 15.5% spike in new user registrations on Election Day and the day after. However, this surge was also accompanied by over 115,000 account deactivations—the highest since Musk’s takeover, as cited by NBC News.

While Bluesky was witnessing more than 1 million new users daily a week post-election, its growth has since slowed to a few hundred thousand new users each day as December started.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has reached 1 million followers on Bluesky, becoming the first user to achieve this milestone. In contrast, she has 12.8 million followers on X.

Bluesky has not responded to various requests for comments regarding this article.