Owned by billionaire and new American minister Elon Musk, X seems to be losing an impressive popularity rate. The reason: the rise of a brand new social network, Bluesky.
The presidential election that brought Donald Trump to power is definitely still in the news. With the recent appointment of Elon Musk (boss of Tesla and SpaceX) as Minister of Government Efficiency, things change, including where you least expect them. The new title of the American millionaire, as surprising as it is debated, reshuffles the cards regarding the popularity of the social network X.
Often criticized for the virulence of its users or the preponderant place given to disinformation and far-right activism, a well of hatred and torment, users choose to turn their backs on it and prefer a completely different network: Bluesky.
The crazy rise of a young platform
Created in 2021, Bluesky has only been available to the public since last February. Although recent, the network has seen its number of users skyrocket in recent months, with a notable spike since the election of Donald Trump in early November. In fact, nearly two million new Internet users visited the platform, bringing the total number of users to 15 million. As a reminder, “only” 9 million accounts had been created in September 2024.
If Bluesky has become so popular, it is for the more peaceful and respectful character of its community, which ultimately recalls the beginnings of Twitter. Developed by Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, the platform allows you to share posts more calmly, without fearing the risk of insult or repression.
The defector to Bluesky appears to be an eminently political message: that of protest against the republican, homophobic and racist ideology of Elon Musk. It is therefore not surprising to note that the blue butterfly social network mainly attracts Americans, disillusioned by the election of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States.
Despite Bluesky’s growing popularity, the small network is still far from overtaking its predecessors, with Threads counting 275 million monthly active users in November, compared to 619 million for X.
What is Bluesky?
Like X, Bluesky allows its users to post messages, but also to like, reply and repost those of others. Its structure is similar to that under Musk’s leadership, but one major difference distinguishes the two adversaries.
Any Bluesky user can identify content they deem undesirable in advance, thus avoiding witnessing violent or sexual content. Moderation is much more thorough than on
Asked by The Guardiansocial media researcher Axel Bruns claims that the blue butterfly app is “become a haven for people who want to have the type of social media experience that Twitter once offered, without all the far-right activism, misinformation, hate speech, bots and everything else”.
A real tool for propaganda and disinformation, X is abandoned by more and more users, including big names like The Guardian. The famous British newspaper announced a few days ago that it was suspending its account, judging Musk’s platform as “an amplifier of hatred”. Musk’s character, more exposed than ever following his latest appointment, plays a big role in climbing the ranks with Donald Trump.