Bluesky is taking off like a rocket, and Elon Musk may have lit the fuse. The decentralized social platform hit the 12 million user mark this week, with its latest milestone of 10 million users surpassing last month's milestone.
The platform reported on Friday that it had received more than 1 million new registrations in 48 hours.
What sparked this digital gold rush? Look no further than Field Twitter (the X). The billionaire has been on good terms lately, but not great. This week, users learned about three major changes to the platform's policies, some of which have deleted longtime tweeters the wrong way.
The first is an update to our privacy policy. Twitter is revising its privacy policy to allow third-party AI developers to train their models on user data. The change, which takes effect on November 15, has raised concerns about data privacy and usage—and there is no clear way to opt out.
Then there's the potential concern for its core user database: Twitter is essentially eliminating the ability to block users from viewing content. This change has been criticized as significantly weakening users' control over their online experience, and potentially exposing users to harassment.
Finally, Twitter is moving its legal jurisdiction from California to the Northern District of Texas, an area known for conservative judges that align with Elon's far-right views. The move has raised eyebrows among consumers and critics.
Bluesky isn't shy about capitalizing on Twitter's mess. The platform is touting its “user-first” approach to all… well, Twitter.
Bluesky's official X account tweeted, “We take online safety very seriously at Bluesky, “If you want to block someone, you can! Customization is your experience.”
Users were quick to point out how this policy update would play with Twitter's image, and they were right. The official Bluesky account is doing a victory lap, boasting about its record growth a day after Musk's latest policy change.
Bluesky's servers went down due to unexpected traffic. In fact, the app is topping the charts in many countries, such as Japan, and has reached the top 5 on Apple's iOS App Store in the United States.
Musk's meddling may be benefiting Bluesky, but Twitter is bleeding cash. Fidelity's latest estimate puts Twitter's value at a paltry $9.4 billion—an 80% nosedive from Musk's $44 billion acquisition by 2022. This decline is exacerbated by advertisers withdrawing due to concerns about brand safety and platform stability.
This isn't the first time Bluesky has benefited from Twitter controversy. When Twitter was temporarily banned in Brazil due to content editing issues and refusal to pay fines, the platform saw a huge increase in users. During that time, Bluesky gained nearly 3 million new users in one week, and reached 10 million users in total.
“Welcome to one million new users in the last three days,” the platform said at the time. “This is now the Brazilian app,” he replied in Portuguese.
Bluesky's rapid ascent is reflected in its impressive engagement metrics: 473 million posts, 448.5 million follows, and 1.8 billion likes, Friday's most active day yet in terms of engagement, according to data shared by its official developers.
As social media users become increasingly concerned about data privacy and platform control, the landscape appears to be changing.
Bluesky's decentralized model and focus on user autonomy is clearly resonating with those looking for alternatives to traditional social media giants, especially now that users know how companies use their personal data and communications and can train AI models.
Bluesky is actually from Twitter – although it was already under management. In the year In 2019, led by co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter seeded the team that would eventually launch Bluesky, a decentralized protocol that could one day bring Twitter closer to other social apps.
But now, with Musk at the helm, Bluesky has instead become Twitter's most prominent rival, not working for the tech giant. And it's only growing.
Edited by Andrew Hayward.
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