Bluesky, the scrappy upstart of the social media world, hit a milestone so impressive it made its competitors spit out their coffee: 25 million users! This happened early Friday morning, and it’s safe to say that a lot of people are abandoning X (formerly Twitter) for a fresh, bot-free experience. Since Election Day, Bluesky has been on an absolute growth spurt. In fact, the numbers are so good, they might make you wonder if this platform is secretly powered by unicorn magic.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane: Back in late August, Bluesky had just 6 million users. By late October, that number nearly doubled to 11 million. Then came the big leap—November 15 saw the platform reach 15 million users, and just four days later, it had added another 5 million, reaching 20 million by Nov. 19. That’s a growth rate that even a cheetah on roller skates would envy.
Of course, no growth spurt is without a bit of a slow-down. Lately, Bluesky’s growth has slightly slowed, possibly because Meta’s Threads has started copying some of Bluesky’s popular features. But even with competition nipping at its heels, Bluesky is still growing at the expense of its well-known rival, X. It turns out people are really tired of X’s bots, extreme content, ads, crypto scams, and a whole lot of other unsavory stuff. Who knew?
One of the key reasons Bluesky has been thriving is the influx of media groups, sports teams, organizations, and celebrities who’ve been flocking to the platform. In the past month, we’ve seen everyone from sports legends to influencers looking for a space that feels a little less like a digital dumpster fire. When the cool kids are posting, you know it’s a platform worth checking out.
Bluesky originally launched as an invite-only social media platform in February 2023. But in February 2024, it opened up its doors to the public, and that’s when things really started to gain traction. The 2024 presidential election—and all the drama swirling around X—definitely gave Bluesky’s user base a nice, turbocharged boost.
And let’s not forget that Bluesky was founded by none other than Jack Dorsey, the guy who was once CEO of Twitter. He started the platform back in 2019, but by 2022, he decided to part ways with Bluesky. And while Dorsey may have bowed out, his creation has continued to flourish, showing that the social media world may have a new kid on the block ready to take over.
So, what’s the secret to Bluesky’s success? It’s a platform that’s fast, fun, and relatively free of the internet’s darker corners. While X continues to drown in controversy, Bluesky is over here, living its best life with a clean feed and millions of new users. And who knows? In the near future, we may just see it rival the big dogs in social media—without the bots and chaos. Cheers to that!
