Bluesky gains millions of users as X experiences exodus following Trump’s victory

The social media platform Bluesky is experiencing a significant increase in users as individuals leave X in the wake of Donald Trump’s election as U.S. President and in light of a forthcoming change to the platform’s terms of service that could complicate legal challenges for the Elon Musk-owned site. According to a statement released on Thursday, Bluesky has attracted approximately 2.5 million new users in just the past week, bringing its total to over 16 million. It is one of several apps attempting to fill the gap left by the platform formerly known as Twitter following Musk’s acquisition.

Bluesky noted a surge in engagement across various metrics, including likes and follows, claiming it is on track to gain 1 million new users in a single day. Prominent organizations and individuals, such as the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate, the British newspaper the Guardian, and former CNN anchor Don Lemon, have announced their departure from X over concerns regarding its content and upcoming changes to its terms.

During the election, misinformation experts criticized X for its role in facilitating the spread of false information regarding crucial battleground states. Following the announcement of Trump’s victory on November 6, X saw a spike with 46.5 million visits in the U.S.—the highest daily figure in a year and 38% above average for recent months, according to SimilarWeb. However, over 115,000 U.S. users also deactivated their X accounts, marking the largest exodus since Musk took over the platform.

That same day, Bluesky’s website recorded approximately 1.2 million visitors, surpassing the 950,000 visitors to Threads, the platform owned by Meta Platforms. Yet, Threads had more active users overall. According to Abraham Yousef, a senior insights analyst at Sensor Tower, Bluesky’s rapid growth may be linked to the controversial content or technical problems experienced on competitor X.

The exit of notable accounts, media figures, and organizations might have led users to perceive X as less appealing, driving them to other platforms like Bluesky and Threads.

This increase in Bluesky’s user base comes just before a change in X’s terms of service set for Friday, which mandates that all legal disputes related to the platform must be addressed exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas or in state courts located in Tarrant County, Texas. The Center for Countering Digital Hate expressed concern that this change could obstruct legal actions against the platform, potentially guiding future lawsuits to judges believed to be sympathetic to Musk’s interests.

The nonprofit criticized Musk for allowing hate speech to proliferate on X, stating, “Now, the billionaire will have the opportunity to bring lawsuits to friendly courts against anyone who disagrees with him on his platform.” Neither X nor Musk have responded to requests for comment.

Despite its recent growth, Bluesky’s user base remains significantly smaller than that of its competitors. The Threads app boasts around 252 million monthly active users, while X has approximately 317 million, as per Sensor Tower. Analyst Gil Luria from D.A. Davidson & Co assessed that X appears to be in a stronger position now, especially given its ability to represent the views of president-elect Trump. He cautioned that while other platforms exist, they may struggle to contend with X due to the substantial network effects associated with microblogging.