1 million new users sign up to leftist social media platform Bluesky after Trump win

Bluesky, a leftwing social media platform, reported that it has attracted over one million new users since the presidential election. Following Elon Musk's appointment to President-elect Donald Trump's administration, certain users have expressed their desire for an alternative to X, previously known as Twitter, as per the Guardian.

Bluesky was founded in 2019 by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, bought Twitter from Dorsey in 2022 for $44 billion and renamed it X. Musk purchased the censorship-ridden social media network to restore free speech in America.

For left-leaning celebrities and individuals turned off by the ideology of X's leadership, Bluesky has taken on the role of being a "safe space" for those who struggle to deal with other people's political ideas. According to the company, the surge in users, who are mostly from North America and the UK, has helped Bluesky grow from nine million users in September to around 15 million users globally.

Despite its growth, the platform still has fewer active users than X and Meta's Threads. Similar to X's lists feature, Bluesky allows users to create their own customized feeds, giving them control over what they view. The site's anti-toxicity features, according to Bluesky's designers, shield users from harassment and dogpiling.

Democratic TV figures like Don Lemon and Mark Cuban have flocked to Bluesky, as have outlets boycotting X, such as the Guardian.