September 05, 2024
Social media startup Bluesky has seen substantial growth following the shutdown of X in Brazil. In just four days, the platform has attracted over 2 million new users, a significant increase from the half-million users from the previous Friday. However, this surge in user activity has occasionally led to system errors, as Bluesky engineers struggle to stabilise servers to handle the sudden increase in sign-ups.
Bluesky saw a surge in new users over the weekend, propelling it to the top of the Brazilian app charts and overtaking Meta’s Instagram Threads. App intelligence firm Appfigures reported that Bluesky’s total downloads were up 10,584% compared to the previous weekend, with a staggering 1,018,952% increase in Brazil alone. This download surge also impacted other countries where the app had previously had very little traction, resulting in an overall 584% increase in global downloads.
The countries with the highest downloads outside Brazil are the United States, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Canada and Spain. However, the most significant growth in downloads was recorded in Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Romania, with rates going from single digits to thousands.
Bluesky has seen a significant increase in engagement on the platform due to high activity from new users. In just four days, likes on the network increased from 13 million to 104.6 million, followers skyrocketed from 1.4 million to 100.8 million, and reposts increased from 1.3 million to 11 million. This indicates a significant increase in user engagement and interest in the platform.
As of Monday, Bluesky announced an impressive increase in the number of new users, with 2.11 million users added in the past four days, a stark contrast to the previous week’s increase of 26,000 users. Additionally, Bluesky saw an increase of over 100% in daily active users. By Tuesday, the number of users had increased to 2.4 million and continued to grow, reaching 2.6 million the next day, with over 85% of the new users originating from Brazil.
Bluesky’s appeal to users leaving X can be attributed to its similarity to the platform formerly known as Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk. Originally incubated within Twitter before spinning off into an independent company, Bluesky maintains much of Twitter’s design and functionality. Like X, Bluesky offers features such as likes, reposts, quote posts, lists, direct messages, search tools, and user profiles. However, Bluesky distinguishes itself by being a decentralized social network, allowing users to set up their own instances, customize feeds, subscribe to third-party moderation services, and create curated “starter packs” of recommended users to follow. Additionally, in future updates, Bluesky intends to introduce video support to its platform.
Bluesky’s approach to content and moderation also sets it apart from competitors like Threads. While Threads avoids political content recommendations to appeal to brands and influencers, Bluesky’s decentralized model offers users more control over content moderation, making it an attractive option for those looking for a less centralized platform. This could be particularly appealing to Brazilians who, following X’s ban tied to political content, sought a platform where moderation decisions are decentralized.
Bluesky’s distinctive strategy around content and moderation sets it apart from competitors like Threads. Unlike Threads, which refrains from suggesting political content in order to attract brands and influencers, Bluesky’s decentralized approach gives users greater control over content moderation. This makes it an attractive option for people looking for a less centralized platform. This aspect could be especially appealing to Brazilians who, following X’s ban related to political content, have been looking for a platform with decentralized moderation policies.
During this period, other decentralized platforms like Mastodon also saw some user growth, but the scale was significantly smaller compared to Bluesky. For example, Mastodon recorded 4,200 new registrations from Brazil in a single day, indicating that many Brazilians might be looking for a platform that not only offers decentralization but also closely mirrors the familiar Twitter/X user experience.
While Meta has not made any official statements about the impact that shifting X’s Brazilian user base to Threads would have, any growth in Threads’ user base would likely have a less prominent impact due to its already substantial size, with over 200 million monthly active users. In contrast, Bluesky’s smaller user base makes its recent gains more notable. Additionally, Brazilians may be drawn to Bluesky’s culture, which embraces chaotic, meme-centric content, reminiscent of the early days of Twitter. Considering that X’s user base in Brazil exceeds 20 million, there is still ample opportunity for Bluesky and other competitors to achieve further growth.