Interest in Bluesky exploded after Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House, especially in Europe where concerns about Elon Musk’s tenure and shift politically rightwards drew a wave of disquiet.
As an alternative to Twitter (or ‘X’), Bluesky is growing, although its peak interest currenlty only a fraction of Twitter’s current interest. As an expert explains, Bluesky may not be sufficiently differentiated from Twitter and this similarity is probably going to hinder the micro-blogger’s growth.
Politically there are differences, with Bluesky being left-leaning and Twitter a right wing platform is attracting tremendous interest from across the globe, including in the UK and the US where Google searches for the service exploded in mid-November. In terms of ownership, Bluesky is classed as a U.S. public benefit corporation.
Marketing expert Toni Marino has considered why users are shifting: “The spike in interest in Bluesky arrived after Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House at the start of November. Harris voters wanted a platform that would allow them to connect with other left-leaning users and escape what they see as a right-wing, Musk-led takeover of Twitter.”
Marino continues, considering the two platforms from the U.S. context: “However, we need to put Bluesky’s rise in context. While the platform is growing, it is still small fry compared to Twitter. US searches for the service are around 10 percent of those for Twitter in most states, even during the last election month, meaning Bluesky still has a long way to go if it wants to compete. Twitter has an established user base and an audience who know and love the platform. It is difficult to imagine a usurper replacing it outright because it is so embedded in the culture.”
Marino does not mention Europe or the UK, where Blusky has been growing more rapidly. Driven by strong growth from outside of the U.S., Bluesky is growing rapidly and is currently picking up around one million new sign-ups a day.
Moving on to how Blusky might grow, Marino sees coming up with something distinctive as the key: “If Bluesky is to compete with Twitter, it will need to differentiate itself somehow. Donald Trump’s Truth Social did this by leaning more into right-wing politics. Bluesky could do the same–providing an outlet for left-wing views.”
Bluesky was created in 2019 as a research project within Twitter led by then-CEO Jack Dorsey. It eventually severed ties with Twitter and became an independent company following Musk’s acquisition. This evolution is one reason why the two platforms have a similar design and function.
Marino also thinks: “Bluesky could also do what Snapchat did to Instagram by adding new and innovative features. When Snapchat launched Stories, Instagram was forced to respond. You could see something similar playing out here.”
In his closing view, Marino considers finance: “If Bluesky is to succeed, it will need to find a way to monetize its content, something Twitter finds a struggle to this day. Options include in-feed ads and perhaps banners, but these are low-revenue and may hamper growth.”
