The social media app Bluesky is experiencing a surge in new users following the recent election.

With President-elect Donald Trump returning to power, Elon Musk’s influence as the owner of X (formerly Twitter) has grown, especially with his role in Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

After Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, which he rebranded as X, numerous new social media platforms emerged, aiming to fill the gap created by his decision to reduce content moderation.

Although none succeeded in dominating the market, Bluesky is now seeing a significant increase in users, particularly as Musk is expected to support Trump throughout his presidency. Here’s what you should know:

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform that resembles X but has unique features aimed at attracting more users.

Emily Liu, a spokesperson for Bluesky, explained in a statement to YSL News, “Unlike other closed platforms, Bluesky is an open social network that empowers users with choices, developers with the freedom to innovate, and creators with autonomy from platforms.”

The app became publicly available in February 2024.

Who owns Bluesky?

CEO Jay Graber partially owns Bluesky. The board includes Jeremie Miller, the inventor of Jabber, Mike Masnick, founder of Techdirt, and Kinjal Shah, a general partner at Blockchain Capital, as per Bluesky’s information.

The project was initiated in 2019 by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and Bluesky separated from Twitter in late 2022.

Bluesky gains 2.5 million new users in just a week

Liu announced on Thursday that Bluesky welcomed about 2.5 million new accounts in the past week, bringing its total user count to over 16 million.

She also highlighted that the platform is experiencing unprecedented levels of user engagement, including likes and follows.

“Users have reported receiving more interactions (and higher-quality interactions) on Bluesky than on other platforms, even when they had more followers elsewhere,” she noted. “Most importantly, they are enjoying their time on the platform!”

X experienced an Election Day boost despite user departure

X has not yet replied to YSL News regarding their latest user statistics.

However, according to a report from XData, the platform recorded an impressive 942 million posts globally on Election Day, along with a 15.5% rise in new user registrations that day and the following day.

At the same time, it faced significant account deactivations, exceeding 115,000, which is the highest since Musk’s takeover.

Notably, some celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Lemon have publicly decided to leave X.