Twitter alternative Bluesky just gained over a million new users

The social network Bluesky just announced that it has gained over 1 million new users in the past week. Like Twitter (now known as X), Bluesky is a microblogging platform, except it’s built on a decentralized architecture so it isn’t controlled by any single entity.

In other words, Bluesky users can create their own servers with specific rules and communities, allowing greater control over data and interactions. Those servers are all networked together, and that overall network is known as Bluesky.

While that sounds awesome in theory — no megalomaniac can hijack the entire platform and bend it to his or her own purposes — one of the downsides of Bluesky is that it’s technically more complicated. That’s been one of its biggest hurdles to growth and adoption.

Which is why this news of a population influx is so exciting. Bluesky now boasts over 14.5 million users, compared to competitors like Meta-owned Threads (which has 275 million users) and X, formerly Twitter (which has over 318 million users).

Speaking to The Verge, Bluesky COO Rose Wang says the majority of new users are from the US, coming in the wake of our high-profile presidential election. During said election, Elon Musk, who owns X, actively supported and boosted Donald Trump’s campaign.