Bluesky, the emerging social networking platform, has once again experienced a substantial boost in its user numbers, thanks to Elon Musk’s recent announcement regarding X, the rebranded version of Twitter. This analysis examines the surge in Bluesky’s popularity triggered by Musk’s introduction of a monthly fee for X users.
Elon Musk unveiled his subscription-based model during a live-streamed event on September 18, citing the need to combat the prevalence of bots on X as the primary motive. However, the X user community did not take kindly to this development, so Bluesky’s user statistics skyrocketed.
A report from Mashable highlighted that Bluesky recorded a staggering 53,585 new sign-ups by the end of Tuesday, September 19, which constituted approximately 5% of its overall user base of around 1.13 million accounts. This influx of new users was accompanied by notable increases in web and mobile app usage.
Analytics firm Similarweb corroborated these findings in its latest report. According to Similarweb, Bluesky’s Android app registered half a million daily active users on the day of Musk’s announcement, marking a 20.6% increase compared to the previous day. While no specific data was available for iOS usage at the time of the report, Similarweb expected a similar trend.
Bluesky’s web app also witnessed a substantial surge in traffic, with over 775,000 daily visitors—an impressive 30% increase compared to the preceding day. On September 19, Bluesky’s web app recorded over 1 million daily visitors, nearly surpassing its number of users on July 1, 2023, when another X controversy prompted Bluesky to limit the number of tweets users could view temporarily.
Such a surge in new users prompted Bluesky to temporarily halt new user sign-ups as its website struggled to cope with the influx of traffic. What’s particularly noteworthy about Similarweb’s findings is that Bluesky thrives when X encounters difficulties.
However, this pattern only sometimes holds for other potential Twitter competitors, such as Instagram Threads or Mastodon. For instance, Meta’s new Twitter clone experienced 8.3 million daily active users on September 18, largely consistent with the previous day’s usage. Nevertheless, this number still pales compared to its peak usage shortly after launch.
It’s worth noting that Bluesky remains an invite-only platform, potentially limiting its user growth opportunities. Had it opened its doors to a broader audience, the recent surge in usage could have been even more substantial.
This surge represents another missed opportunity for Bluesky to capitalize on X’s setbacks. Previous instances include Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, the upheaval surrounding the revamped verification system, the implementation of rate limits, and now Musk’s announcement of subscription fees for all X users.
Bluesky, however, appears disinterested in leveraging these moments to significantly expand its user base, which has recently surpassed the 1 million mark—a fraction of X’s colossal 550 million monthly active users.
While X remains the largest microblogging network, its rebranding has raised concerns about its market position. To improve its rankings in the App Store, X added “formerly Twitter” to its description, replacing the previous tagline, “Blaze your glory.”
This change was likely prompted by a decline in X’s weekly active users following the rebranding. At the same time, installs for Twitter Lite surged, possibly due to consumer confusion as they searched for Twitter and encountered the Lite app designed for emerging markets.
Bluesky’s recent surge in user numbers highlights its ability to capitalize on X’s missteps, but it also underscores missed opportunities for significant growth. The dynamics between these emerging social networking platforms continue to evolve, and X’s dominance remains a formidable challenge for its competitors.
