Bluesky logged a gain of around 2.5 million new users in the past one week alone. On the other hand, more than 115,000 US users deactivated their X accounts the day after the election, as reported by CNN, referencing data from digital intelligence platform Similarweb.
Currently, Bluesky has over 16 million users, according to Reuters.
An X exit
Prominent journalists, including Charlie Warzel, Mara Gay of the New York Times and former CNN anchor Don Lemon announced their exit from X over concerns about the platform’s content and a possible change in its service terms.
Even British news publisher The Guardian, which has over 27 million followers across 80 different accounts on X, announced that it is quitting the platform, citing Musk’s influence over the US election.
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Meanwhile, on November 6, Bluesky drew around 1.2 million visitors more than Meta-owned Threads, which only had 950,000 visitors despite Threads generally having more visitors on averageWhy the change?
One of the main reasons for the surge in the number of new Bluesky users is the change in service terms by X, which takes effect from November 15. As per the new terms, all legal disputes related to X have to be brought only to the state courts in Tarrant County, Texas, or the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a British-American not-for-profit NGO, said the move is to veer any and all future lawsuits against X to a favourable end with the help of those judges who “will be on his side.”
Despite all this, Bluesky could not be said to be a major threat to X, given that the platform has been around for a while and has more traction. Regardless of the loss in followers, X gained a 15.5% increase in new user sign-ups during the US presidential election.
