After Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, now X, many users began exploring other platforms. Mastodon, Post, Pebble (which shut down), and Spill have all been considered alternatives, but none have grown as quickly as Bluesky. This trend of users seeking new platforms is also extending to the betting world, with many turning to Betlabel for fresh options.
Bluesky, which was invite-only for almost a year, opened up to everyone in February 2024, gaining almost 800,000 users in a single day. By November 2024, the app had over 16 million users. This was largely driven by changes at X, like the controversial block feature update and allowing third-party AI training on user posts. These moves helped push Bluesky into the top 5 apps on the U.S. App Store. The platform also gained traction after the 2024 U.S. election and a mass exodus from X, partly fueled by Taylor Swift’s fans. However, despite its impressive growth, Bluesky still has a long way to go to catch up with Threads, which boasts 275 million active users.
An Overview of Bluesky: What Is It Really?
Bluesky is a decentralized social app created by Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter. It looks similar to Twitter, with a community-driven design, customizable algorithms, and moderation tailored to each group.
The app is built on an open-source framework called the AT Protocol, which gives outsiders insight into its development.
Dorsey started Bluesky in 2019 while still at Twitter, with plans to make it a decentralized social media standard. However, after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, Bluesky became separate from the platform.
As of May 2024, Bluesky is an independent public benefit corporation, led by CEO Jay Graber, with Dorsey no longer involved.
Bluesky was funded by Jack Dorsey, but he no longer has a role in the company. The CEO is Jay Graber, who previously worked as a software engineer at Zcash and founded the event-planning site Happening.
Getting Started with Bluesky
When you sign up for Bluesky, you will create a handle, which appears as @username.bsky.social, along with a bold display name. You can also use your own domain as your username if you would like.
