The Rise of Bluesky: Has It Shaken the Foundations of X?

Newbies in the ever-changing social media space can be great news for users looking for something different, as we’ve seen with Mastodon – the surprise rage hit of 2022 – but the market is beginning to feel crowded with new platforms. One recent entrant, Bluesky, a project spawned by the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has been gaining a lot of traction, particularly in the UK, and caught the attention of a number of politicians. Despite this, the numbers from X (as Twitter is now known) suggest that its current total effect is almost invisible. This article explains why this is – and what it means for both platforms.

THE SURGE OF INTEREST IN BLUESKY

The Allure Behind the Surge

Bluesky has already become the UK’s original social media phenomenon, shooting straight to the top of the download chart. More than 1 million UK downloads speak for themselves. A curious, excited, passionate acceptance of what it stands for: it’s a commitment to real‑time discourse, and a fidelity to the ideals of free speech.

ANALYZING THE SURGE'S RIPPLE EFFECT ON X

To the astonishment of many, however, this resurgence around Bluesky has made no dent whatsoever in X’s hold on the social media landscape. The data-crunchers at App Annie and SimilarWeb both show that, if anything, user engagement on X actually increased in the past month versus the same period last year. The average X user, for instance, spends approximately 38 minutes per day glued to their devices, a reflection of the depth of vertical integration as well as X’s unparalleled generosity and user-friendliness. Its bottom line, meanwhile, is as healthy as ever, with a reported $100 million in revenue generated last month.

THE SURGE OF LOYALTY TOWARDS X

X’s branding and user base makes it resilient to any new surges of Bluesky types That strong branding and user base comes from its loyal customers whose habits are not likely to be easily changed, an analysis by the analyst Sarah Johnson at eMarketer concludes. ‘Facebook and Instagram have strong branding and a large base of loyal users, which it will be difficult for newcomers to influence,’ she told the Daily Mail.

BLUESKY'S SURGE: A FAD OR A FUTURE CHALLENGER?

Will Bluesky change the social media landscape? While it’s too early to tell, as its usage surge continues, Bluesky’s philosophy and functionality might soon start to be seen as a serious threat to the status quo of social media – X, for instance. Most of all, will Bluesky’s surge in downloads and new accounts turn into a sustainable user base? If it does, time will tell.

THE SURGE IN SOCIAL MEDIA DIVERSITY

The uptick in interest in platforms such as Bluesky tells us that, broadly, there is growing demand for some ‘otherness’ when it comes to social media – the chance to find new platforms that select for other values: in this case, privacy, free speech and realtime conversation. If the current enthusiasm for Mastodon and Bluesky is sustained, it could be the sign of a fracturing future for social media, in which new platforms offer tailored sets of values, and different groups of the digital elite self-select into their preferred corners of the Metaverse.

UNDERSTANDING THE SURGE PHENOMENON

The way the term ‘surge’ is now applied to certain things in the digital world, for example, making reference to an ‘explosive’ growth or rise, point in this direction. Take the digital lexicon of social media. A surge of this or that, be it a newer and better app to help you share and network, or simply record-breaking numbers of new users from all over the world, is not only an indication of what platform is winning the audiences of today; the very fact of how fast social media preferences change reminds all of us of the constant shifting sands in the digital world. In practice, this means that today’s king might well be tomorrow’s pawn.

To conclude: Bluesky’s resurgence in the UK is interesting but ultimately limited to Bluesky. At least in the immediate term, even now that it’s back on the app store, the challenger has found X relatively impervious to the challenge. At the end of the day, the foundation of X’s standing – its status, and all the infrastructure and dependency built around it – rests on its unparalleled pairing of brand and network. Whatever the state of social media in the UK, even if preferences change over time and the network becomes increasingly fragmented, the success of platforms like Bluesky will hinge on their ability to sustain interest and offer their users experiences that are genuinely distinctive and compelling. The boom in Bluesky downloads has demonstrated curiosity, but whether it heralds loyalty remains to be seen.