Why ex-Twitter birds flocked to Bluesky in 2024 (and why you should too)

It has been over two years since Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk took over Twitter (and eventually renamed it to X). While Musk’s plans for “the everything app” are far from completion, X has managed to drive away several advertisers and users from the platform in the past couple of years.

With a recent change though, the number of Twitter Quitters has only gone up. This includes opening up all X posts and profiles for the training of Grok, the platform’s very own full-fledged AI model (without offering users an out).

With nowhere else to go, users have found hope in Bluesky, a decentralised micro-blogging site, which caught the eye of the general public in 2024. If you’re looking to look past X/Twitter, you may be curious about Bluesky too. Here’s everything you need to know about the platform, what makes it different, and why you should care.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is a micro-blogging social site that lets users post text, images and videos, similar to X, or even Threads. In fact, Bluesky began as a research initiative within Twitter in 2019 by Jack Dorsey, then the CEO of the company. The goal was simple – to recreate Twitter, but in a decentralised new form.

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For those not very well-versed with Web 3.0 lingo, a decentralised platform is one where the platform (and by extension, all user-data) is not controlled by a single company or entity. Instead, it works by employing multiple servers that communicate using shared protocols, and most importantly, remain independent.

This means no company or CEO (or basically anyone else) can decide to drastically change the policies of the platform all of a sudden. It is simply not possible, since nobody technically has ownership over the accounts that power a decentralised platform like Bluesky. Users also have the option of simply taking their followers and ‘hopping’ from one server to another should they decide to do so.

Why are so many users moving to Bluesky?

Bluesky has been around since February 2024 but has been enjoying an exponential growth over the past few months, which coincided with the US presidential elections, its outcome, and Elon Musk’s involvement.

Without getting into the politics behind it, the need for a new ‘X’ stemmed from the lack of a platform where users themselves had control. Bluesky filled that void, and as a result, was gaining as many as a million users everyday by November. Here are some key reasons why Bluesky is a great platform to switch to by those who aren’t happy with X’s policies.

1. Privacy and control over user content
Bluesky’s decentralised approach gives it an edge over other platforms including X when it comes to giving users control over their profiles, posts and media. A quick look at the platform’s Privacy Policy page should tell you exactly what’s attracting the privacy and control conscious to Bluesky.

2. A nod to the ‘old’ Twitter
Bluesky is quickly filling up with the same early adopters that made Twitter what it was in the early years. This includes everyone from journalists to tech professionals and artists. Since it was developed as a Twitter side-project, Bluesky also has the general look-and-feel of the old Twitter interface that many users have been missing.

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3. An ad-free experience, with growing features
It doesn’t hurt that Bluesky is completely ad-free at the moment and is quickly building new features to keep up with the competition. Currently, the platform is also testing a new ‘Trending Topics’ feature that lets users monitor a sidebar that tracks the most talked-about keywords in real-time – allowing users one-click access to the most happening topics.

2025 will be crucial for Bluesky

As we head into 2025, Bluesky will most likely face a further influx of users, both new and ex-X users alike. Unfortunately, this will also mean new challenges – from bots to curbing aspects like misinformation and hate-speech – all being elements that Twitter/X has struggled with for years.

With the platform growing at pace, it also seems likely that advertising will step in at some point, and with more and more brands jumping off X’s sinking ship, Bluesky should have a lot of hands reaching out fairly quickly. Brands will also want to be among the first names to build loyalty on the new platform.

Competition will be another aspect to consider. Bluesky isn’t the only micro-blogging platform out there – Meta’s Threads continues to leverage its Instagram-powered userbase, while other decentralised alternatives like Mastodon are also on the horizon. How Bluesky will use its current boost to transition into a stable platform with returning users will be key to its long-term growth.