Bluesky hits new user landmark as The Guardian leads huge X-odus

The Bluesky social media platform has become somewhat of a sanctuary for alienated Twitter/X users disillusioned with leadership under Elon Musk.

Now Musk’s efforts to secure the 2024 Presidential Election for Donald Trump and his appointment to lead a government efficiency unit in the incoming administration appears to be the last straw for millions more social media users.

The platform has rocketed to the top of the App Store charts in the United States with a reliable tracking tool saying the service has now surpassed 15 million users (via The Verge).

While that trails far behind Meta’s Threads, which offers a user base of 275 million people largely driven by the Instagram, Bluesky may offer a more sustainable and viable alternative that’s less susceptible to the forces driving people away from Twitter/X.

Bluesky claims to be “social as it should be” and encourages users to come and “have some fun again” harkening back to the days when that was possible on Twitter. It encourages people to enjoy their own timeline if they don’t wish to have content determined by an algorithm. So far, it’s advertiser free too. For those with privacy and security concerns, it’s runs on decentralised web servers.

The rise of Bluesky is likely to be enhanced by today’s shocking news that The Guardian news organisation has announced it will cease posting content on Twitter/X.

“We wanted to let readers know that we will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on the social media site X (formerly Twitter),” the organisation wrote in an editorial on Wednesday. “We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere.”

“This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism. The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”

Twitter/X is reportedly experiencing a great exodus since the American election result, with the Financial Times’ data journalist John Burn-Murdoch reporting close to 120,000 people in the United States are deactivating their X accounts per day.

A shift is underway

For me, X has been insufferable since Musk bought it. It’s been worse in the last few months. I’ve vowed to leave loads of times (on these pages) but have never pulled the trigger. Partially because I feel I need it for work and partially because of relationships I have built via that platform. However, in the last few days, things have shifted. The Guardian – full disclosure: a publication I also write for in a different capacity beyond tech – has cut ties and it’s moved me to finally do likewise.

The Guardian’s decision may be a tipping point for other major media organisations also dissatisfied with the direction of X under Musk and the propensity for right wing disinformation to be both allowed unchecked and amplified and even disseminated by the private owner of the site, who now just happens to be part of the incoming Trump administration.