#Xodus: Bluesky Hits 20M Users as People Continue to Flee X

#Xodus: Bluesky Hits 20M Users as People Continue to Flee X

As a veteran of social media platforms, I must admit that I’ve seen it all – from MySpace to Friendster, and from Twitter to Facebook. But the rise of Bluesky has truly been a breath of fresh air.


Rapidly, the user base of Bluesky, the swift-rising social media firm, is swelling significantly since the recent presidential election. On a notable Tuesday, their microblogging platform surpassed 20 million users, with an average addition of one million new users daily over the past five days.

As per a post dated November 13 by Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, the platform had approximately 6 million users at the end of August, around 11 million users at the end of October, and reached 15 million users on November 15. In just five days following this, the site added an additional 5 million users, with the rapid growth observed since November 5, the day of the election, significantly increasing.

Bluesky has gained significantly from the mass exodus of users departing from Elon Musk’s X, as the platform previously recognized as Twitter appears to be spiraling into a disarray of bots, explicit content, fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, advertisements, pornography, racial discrimination, transphobia, and misinformation.

There’s been a swift shift towards using Bluesky in Hollywood, largely due to the entertainment industry’s discomfort with Musk, a wealthy figure who is a well-known supporter and funder of Donald Trump’s political views. Lately, actors, directors, musicians, and other creative professionals have flocked to Bluesky as it offers a practical replacement for X, allowing them to showcase their work and interact with fans more effectively.

Notable figures from the entertainment industry who have been increasingly active on Bluesky in recent weeks include: Lizzo, Barbra Streisand, Jamie Lee Curtis, Gabrielle Union, Quinta Brunson, James Gunn, Sean Gunn, John Cusack, Guillermo del Toro, Ben Stiller, Flavor Flav, Chuck D, Alex Winter, Carrie Coon, Scott Derrickson, George Takei, Mike Flanagan, Mike Shur, Mark Hamill, Stephen King, Alyssa Milano, Meredith Salenger, Patton Oswalt, Lilly Wachowski, Franklin Leonard, Tim Heidecker, Akilah Hughes, Yvette Nicole Brown, Andy Richter, Weird Al Yankovic, Gary Whitta, Titus Welliver, Paul F. Tompkins, Jon Cryer, Ed Solomon, Craig Mazin, Jenni Konner, Jeri Ryan, Ken Jennings, Gale Ann Hurd, Armando Iannucci, Mia Farrow, Harold Perrineau, BenDavid Grabinski, Marc Bernardin, Duncan Jones, Miranda Cosgrove, Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Sheen, Bill Lawrence, Matthew Lillard, Busy Philipps, Dionne Warwick, Colson Whitehead, Paul Scheer, Bradley Whitford, Mara Wilson, Kashana Cauley, Megan Amram, Maria Bamford, John Carpenter, Brian Duffield, and Robert Kirkman. These individuals span various professions within the entertainment industry and have been posting on Bluesky more frequently in recent weeks.

The swift integration of the platform by several prominent media entities such as The Guardian, The Economist, The Athletic, The Information, The Verge, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Bellingcat, ProPublica, NPR, IGN, 404 Media, CNN, El Pais, Le Monde, The Times of London, The Guardian Australia, Slate, San Francisco Chronicle, Huff Post, The Daily Beast, Vox, The Onion, The Intercept, Drop Site, Gizmodo, Kotaku, TechCrunch, The Globe and Mail, Hong Kong Free Press, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, and The Wall Street Journal has significantly contributed to a surge in user numbers for Bluesky.

Significantly, The Guardian declared they would cease updates on their X accounts, following their characterization of Musk’s platform as “toxic.” The U.K.-based media organization mentioned that they had been pondering this move to halt updates on X for a while, due to the frequently disturbing content often promoted or found on the platform, such as far-right conspiracy theories and racism.

The Guardian stated furthermore that the U.S. presidential election campaign reinforced their long-held belief that X is a harmful media outlet, and that its owner, Elon Musk, has leveraged its power to manipulate political discussions.

Even though Bluesky is expanding quickly, it has yet to match the user base of X’s or Meta’s Threads. In fact, X currently serves over 300 million active users each month, while Meta surpasses that with approximately 250 million monthly active users.

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2024-11-19 17:24