‘The friendly X’; After Trump’s victory, Twitter alternative Bluesky is growing like crazy

This article was last updated on November 19, 2024

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‘The friendly X’; After Trump’s victory, Twitter alternative Bluesky is growing like crazy

Since Donald Trump’s election victory in the US, the social media platform Bluesky has been growing rapidly. In the last 24 hours, it welcomed a whopping one million new users. Many of them no longer feel at home on Elon Musk’s X, because the South African tech and space entrepreneur is said to have used that platform to influence the American elections.

Initially, Bluesky was funded and founded by Twitter itself, led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. In 2022, Elon Musk took over Twitter and changed the name to X. Dorsey left the board of the now independent Bluesky earlier this year.

At first glance, the platform is barely distinguishable from Twitter – including a light blue logo – but there are some differences. While X’s standard timeline works according to an algorithm, Bluesky’s feed is chronological. This means that a user only sees messages from accounts he follows, with the most recently posted message at the top.

‘The friendly X’

“Extreme sounds receive a lot of attention on

“These types of messages are then pumped around by the algorithm, so that even more people see them. You don’t have that problem on Bluesky, for example.” In addition, messages that conflict with the platform’s house rules will be removed.

For these reasons, Bluesky is also called “the friendly X” by some users. “The question is whether it will remain that way if the site becomes very popular,” says De Vreese. “It’s growing very quickly now, so it could be a challenge to moderate that.”

When Musk bought Twitter, he said that he did so partly because the platform had become too political in his view. “But he then turned X into part of the Trump campaign,” De Vreese saw. “So it became more political than ever.”

Musk had the algorithm adjusted to ensure that his own account reaches more people. With that account – which you as an X user can hardly ignore – he regularly shares unfounded conspiracy theories, such as the racist and anti-Semitic population theory.

Musk’s position during the elections was ultimately the final straw for many people to switch.

Claes de Vreese, professor of political communication

In addition, the tone at X also changed after Musk took over. Last January wrote Nieuwsuur about mounting criticism of the platform. There was hardly any moderation, which meant that users saw a sharp increase in the number of racist and hateful messages. “It is filled with so much muck and negativity, so there was also a search for alternatives,” De Vreese said. The amount of misinformation also appears to be increasing increased.

“Musk’s position during the elections was ultimately the final straw for many people to switch,” said De Vreese. “That has led to a wave that is now spreading around the world.” The platform now has almost 20 million users. Estimates of the number of active users of X vary, but it is certainly hundreds of millions per month.

Unofficial ministry

Musk was highly visible during Trump’s election campaign. He spoke at Trump campaign rallies and handed out millions to Americans who registered to vote. He also filled the Republican campaign coffers with tens of millions of dollars.

The Tesla boss is also expected to play a role during Trump’s presidency. He must be some kind unofficial ministry will lead a service called Department Of Government Efficiency, abbreviated DOGE, a reference to its cryptocurrency Dogecoin. According to Trump, it is an external organization that must make the government function more efficiently and make it more economical.

Mastodon and Threads

Since X’s acquisition, more tech companies have tried to launch an alternative to Twitter. Well-known examples are Threads – Meta’s social media platform – and Mastodon. These companies also benefit from the many users who no longer feel at home on X.

According to De Vreese, the market is large enough for X and the alternative platforms, but he notes that there is also a danger in “fragmentation”. “If certain groups of people are active on the different platforms, you may ultimately be left with platforms on which everyone agrees with each other. It is a democratic challenge if it falls completely apart. Ultimately, it might perhaps be better if there is one platform with good moderation, but where people with different opinions are active.”