Bluesky Gains 1M Users Per Day For Several Days

Bluesky is gaining attention as it adds roughly one million users daily, with its total user base surpassing 19 million. This surge began following the recent U.S. presidential election, which appears to have motivated many users to make the switch from X to an alternative platform. Notably, Bluesky has become the top free app in the U.S. iPhone App Store, outperforming both Threads and ChatGPT.

Initially launched as an invite-only network, Bluesky is now open to all users. Its design is familiar to those accustomed to platforms like X (formerly Twitter), featuring vertically scrolling posts, small user avatars, and interaction metrics such as likes, comments, and reposts. Bluesky offers a fresh alternative to X, which has undergone controversial changes under Elon Musk, including updates to its blocking feature and new terms of service that have unsettled many users.

Bluesky’s history ties back to Twitter, as it was originally a project initiated by co-founder Jack Dorsey. Though Dorsey has since stepped away, the platform continues to develop innovative features like algorithmic customization, aiming to provide users with more control over their social media experience.

This rapid growth comes both from users being driven away from Twitter and from Bluesky’s own improvements. Unlike other platforms, it allows individuals to create custom feeds tailored to their interests and provides robust moderation tools, including blocking and muting options to prevent harassment. Bluesky it also lets users verify their accounts by linking their handles to custom domains, a step toward authenticating users without subscription fees.

While not perfect and still in the process of being developed – for example, paid subscriptions are still on the table and actively being worked on – Bluesky’s success is still notable. While part of its surge in users comes from users responding poorly to X’s changes post-Musk-aquisition, the platform’s ability to retain said users is entirely based on its own quality and feature set.