Posted by Since the Twitter shakeup two years ago when tech billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform now known as “X,” new social media platforms have begun to emerge as alternatives.
Some of these platforms are seeing explosive growth since the election. Relative newcomers Bluesky and Threads both currently lead the Apple App Store charts, picking up a contingent of users migrating from “X” – a group largely divided along political lines, retreating from X’s right-leaning perception and seeking a more kindred space.
Jack Dorsey, a former co-founder and board member of Twitter, helped launch Bluesky in 2019, but has since cut ties with the platform. In a coincidental twist, the name of the company’s new CEO, Jay Graber—named “Lantian” by her Chinese mother – means “blue sky” in Mandarin. The platform’s name was already in place, however, before Graber took the helm.
Bluesky has posted a banner month, gaining a million users in November alone, bringing its total membership to break the 20 million mark. Much of the sudden influx is credited to post-election reaction, coinciding with some of the platform’s high-profile members coming onboard, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, author John Green, and billionaire Mark Cuban.
While Bluesky is having a shining moment in Apple’s number one free app spot this week, the Threads platform boasts 275 million monthly active users as of November, according to data posted by Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram. Mosseri further announced that 15 million new signups were added to Threads this month.
Other reasons cited for departures from “X” include an upcoming policy change poised to allow user data to train its AI model, a permission which LinkedIn gave itself among its own membership, as did Meta, who used public posts from Instagram and Facebook to train its AI assistant. Another concern stemmed from a rumor that “X” could merge with Truth Social, owned by Trump Media and Technology.
With an estimated 588 million users worldwide, Musk’s “X” remains robust, and the tech giant says his platform is seeing record highs in time spent on the site by users. Alternative sites like Threads and Bluesky haven’t offered advertising opportunities like “X” does, but one publication hinted that Meta may allow limited advertising on Threads starting in January.
Will Bluesky follow suit? Read more here.