People are leaving Twitter (sorry, “X”) and are flocking in their millions to Bluesky — but what is the new social media app?
Once upon a time, there was a cute little app called Twitter. Ok, it wasn’t that little and it wasn’t always that cute. But it did have sweet little birdie as its logo and logging on didn’t always make you want to immediately gouge your eyes out.
Everything changed when Elon Musk took over the company in 2022. The little birdie was banished. In its place, an ominous “X” that vaguely resembled a skull and crossbones. Instead of a feed filled with friends and friends-of-friends, our timelines were soon overrun by vicious AI bots and ads, while the real people all seemed like they wanted to destroy each other with the most vicious words they could muster.
It’s no wonder that many people jumped ship. By March of this year, the number of people using the app daily had dropped by almost a fifth, as reported by NBC News. Last week, the Twitter exodus was ramped up to a new level. The day after the US election saw the largest drop in users since Musk’s takeover. Musk’s campaign to bring Donald Trump back into the White House have proven to be successful and, apparently, many Twitter/X users no longer wanted any part in it.
Amidst this mass retreat from X, a new social media platform has sprung up from the ashes: Bluesky. The app has skyrocketed, welcoming a million new users since the election. With it’s friendly blue and white butterfly logo and the refreshingly genial interactions on the timeline, the app feels like a breath of fresh air after the minefields of X. Or perhaps, one might say, it feels like the clouds have parted to reveal a sunny blue sky. But what exactly is it?
What is Bluesky?
Developed by Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter, and led by Jay Graber, Bluesky is a decentralised social media platform. What does that mean? While most social media platforms are “closed,” Bluesky gives its users the freedom to create and build with independence. In other words, users can create their own servers where they store their own data and set their own rules. This means you can join specific servers that cater to your interests.
You can also stay on the main server, Bluesky Social, and get the Twitter experience.
Is Bluesky really like the “old” Twitter?
Bluesky certainly feels like the Twitter of yore. After the trenches of Musk’s X where a quick scroll through the very angry, often sexist timeline left you feeling bruised and war-torn, Bluesky feels like a refreshing stroll through a sunny meadow.
Most of what I’ve seen on there so far is either friendly or funny and, more often than not, relevant to me and my interests.
Why? For one thing, the algorithm is more similar to the “old” Twitter algorithm, whereas X’s algorithm has a habit of prioritising its Premium members. X has also become overrun with bots — look at any popular tweet and you’ll find countless bot replies in the comments. In fact, although Musk promised to reduce spam bots when he first purchased the platform, in 2023, he announced he would be allowing bots with “good content” to remain and, as of September 2023, there were reportedly more active bots on the platform than ever. Musk hasn’t directly commented on this, but he is seemingly aware of the issue: in August 2024, he tweeted, “Are you still seeing a lot of bots in replies?”