Every so often, X (FKA Twitter) users who disagree with Elon Musk’s administration promote “migration campaigns” to alternative platforms. Usually, these movements align with a recent unpopular change. For instance, the new behavior of the “blocking” feature, which permits individuals blocked to see your posts. The most recent beneficiary of this type of situation is Bluesky, whose number of users has surged notably.
X’s users latest migration attempt caused a surge in Bluesky’s sign-up figures
After the change in the blocking policy and the use of data for AI training on X, Threads, another rival social platform, gained around half a million sign-ups in the following hours. Now, Bluesky is experiencing a significant influx of new users. In September, the service had around 9 million users. However, by last Tuesday, the figure was 14.6 million.
Reports suggest that the results of the recent US presidential elections may have influenced X users’ latest migration attempt. Apparently, there are users who believe that Elon Musk favored Donald Trump’s campaign. According to a Bluesky spokesperson, the platform gained around 1 million new users in the last week. On Monday, Bluesky temporarily became the second most downloaded app by iOS users in the United States.
According to Appfigures, an app data analytics company, Bluesky downloads in the US increased by 624% on November 10 compared to downloads on November 1. “The majority of Bluesky’s new users are coming from the United States, Canada, and the U.K.,” said Emily Lu of the Bluesky team.
“We’re seeing increased activity levels across all different forms of engagement: likes, follows, new accounts, etc. We’re excited to welcome these communities to Bluesky, which range from Swifties to sports fans to journalists. Users have also been sharing feedback that they’re receiving more engagement — and higher-quality engagement — on Bluesky than on other platforms despite initially having more followers elsewhere,” Lu added.
The X ban in Brazil also brought many new users to the platform
This is not the first time that Bluesky has received many new users for X-related situations. For example, the platform gained around 2 million users when Brazil banned Elon Musk’s social network from the country. Anyway, X returned to Brazil a few weeks later, so it is possible that many have simply returned to their previous “home.”
