Washington DC, United States

Bluesky, the social media platform believed to be X’s competitor, has recently gained popularity after Donald Trump’s win in the United States presidential election. The social media platform has gained millions of new users, including some big Hollywood names.

Advertisment

As Elon Musk secures a position in Trump’s cabinet, a large number of X users have shifted to Bluesky as a result of terms of service change on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Bluesky, which now has over 16 million users, recently faced technical issues as many reported outages.

Also read | 'Good news,' Trump ally Elon Musk met with Iran’s UN ambassador, discussed ways to defuse tensions: Report

Advertisment

Bluesky reports outages

As Bluesky is growing, with one million new users joining this week, the app was among the top on the App Store on November 14, according to Business Insider. 

However, thousands of users reported issues with the application and website on Downdetector just as Bluesky went over 16 million users, according to an employee at the decentralised microblogging company.

Advertisment

Hollywood celebs leave X

While Musk’s X has around 317 million users, Bluesky’s user base is much smaller. However, major Hollywood names have recently switched to Bluesky from X after Trump won his second term in office. 

Also read | 'So humanity can grow,' Elon Musk allegedly offered his sperm to a very famous politician

Don Lemon, an American television journalist, posted a short video to announce that he is leaving X. “I once believed it was a place for honest debate, discussion, transparency, and free speech. But now, I feel it no longer serves that purpose,” he said.

Other big names including Elton John, Lee Curtis, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mia Farrow have also left Musk’s social media platform. Rapper Lizzo also left X, saying, “Anyways, I joined Bluesky because we’re leaving toxicity in 2024.”

Bluesky was first created by Jack Dorsey as a research project in 2019 to decentralise Twitter, as per Forbes. The company was officially launched in 2021 and opened to the public in 2023. The platform offers features similar to X to its users. In addition, it allows users to create their own servers with their own set of rules.

(With inputs from agencies)