Bluesky saw its user count hit and surpass 20 million on Tuesday, a major milestone for a social network that officially launched in February of 2023 on an invite-only basis.

More people have been flocking to Bluesky lately, with many likely joining as an alternative to Elon Musk’s X. In the week following the US presidential election, Bluesky snagged more than 1 million new members for a total of almost 15 million users, a company spokesperson told The New York Times last Tuesday.  

Also: How to get started using Bluesky Social: Everything you need to know

From 9 million in early September and 12 million around mid-October, Bluesky showed a surge in growth in November, adding more than a million in one week and then a million more in just 24 hours. You can watch the numbers continue to climb in real time here.

Bluesky’s explosive growth

On the mobile front, Bluesky’s iOS app is currently at the top of the charts among all free apps in Apple’s App Store. As Number 1, it’s ahead of other popular free apps like Threads, ChatGPT, Google, TikTok, and Instagram. It’s also topping the Android charts. 

At the same time, X has watched its numbers dwindle. This past April, the Musk-owned platform had around 611 million users, according to stats from Statista and other sources. At last count in September, that number had dropped to 586 million. The decline has been especially felt in the US and UK, according to The Financial Times, as spotted by Social Media Today. But even in the EU, the number of X users fell by 5% over the first half of 2024.

Also: 7 things to know about Bluesky before you join – and why you should

In contrast, Bluesky has enjoyed steady and sometimes sudden growth in its audience since its launch around two years ago. This past February, the user count surged by more than 800,000 after the network removed its invite-only requirement. Last month, the audience jumped by half a million in just one day. But that was just after X activated a new feature to let blocked accounts still see posts from the person who had blocked them.

Why are people ditching X?

That brings us to the present day. Why another sudden exodus of users from X to Bluesky? There are a few likely reasons.

Also: How to migrate from X to Bluesky without losing your followers

There are the usual complaints about X’s increased toxicity and polarization, probably more keenly felt during the run-up to this year’s US presidential election. As people with different political and social beliefs have duked it out on X, others caught in the crossfire have likely left for safer ground.

Bluesky has “become a refuge for people who want to have the kind of social media experience that Twitter used to provide, but without all the far-right activism, the misinformation, the hate speech, the bots and everything else,” media scholar Axel Bruns said, according to The Guardian. “The more liberal kind of Twitter community has really now escaped from there and seems to have moved en masse to Bluesky.”

Even many of those remaining on X are unhappy with it. A YouGov survey from this past August found that 42% of those who use X daily have a negative view of it. 

Also: How to manage Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads all from one free app

This year Musk regularly displayed his ardent support of Trump. The X owner even ran into controversy when he started doling out millions of dollars to alleged swing voters. Though a judge ruled the action legal, Musk’s payouts still raised concerns among many.

And now that the election is over and Trump the victor, Musk seems destined to play a role in the new administration. And that has some X and Bluesky users worried.

“I am still on X but after January, when X could be owned by a de facto member of the Trump administration, its functions as a Trump propaganda outlet and far-right radicalization machine could be accelerated,” said Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an historian and New York University professor, according to The Guardian.

Responding to reports that Musk planned to spend election night with Trump, Bluesky posted on its own X account that “I can guarantee that no bluesky team members will be sitting with a presidential candidate tonight and giving them direct access to control what you see online.”

Looking ahead

Even without X’s drawbacks, Bluesky continues to innovate, another factor likely drawing in new people. In recent months, Bluesky has added such features as video attachments, direct messages, the ability to pin a post, and customizable fonts. On tap for the near future is a subscription option with higher-quality video uploads and profile customizations. However, the company promises that Bluesky will always be free to use.