Jamie Hughes
Associate Photography Editor
Users of X, formerly known as Twitter, have been predicting the platform’s downfall ever since its takeover by billionaire Elon Musk. But many continued to stick with the popular network. Multiple waves of departures occurred, frequently following a controversial decision by Musk to change something on X, such as more recently changing how blocking users works.
These waves of movement, however, often proved to be temporary. That is, until the reelection of Donald Trump to the presidency on Nov. 5. The common sentiment among X users was that Musk’s support of Trump led to his election. This was seen through the frequent elevation of posts on X supporting Trump, and Musk’s frequent appearances alongside Trump during his campaign. Another potential cause was the change to X’s terms of service which would explicitly allow user content on the platform to be used for training artificial intelligence, likely X’s own chatbot called Grok.
Whatever the cause, the data has shown that alternatives to X have seen their user numbers skyrocket. The two main competitors to X are Threads, owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, and Bluesky. Bluesky was originally developed by Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey, but is today owned by Jay Graber. Another X alternative called Mastodon also exists, which touts being “decentralized,” or not tied to a single owner. This network, though, has experienced slower growth owing to the platform’s perceived complexity.
Following the Nov. 5 election, Bluesky’s user numbers went through a dramatic shift, at one point seeing over a million user sign-ups within a day according to the platform’s official account. As of the afternoon of Nov. 16, Bluesky had over 18 million user accounts, compared to an estimated 190 million Threads users according to Quiver Quantitative. According to FediDB, Mastodon has roughly 7.5 million users, though these users are split across many sub-platforms run independently called “servers.”
The benefits of the three alternate platforms have largely been better moderation, less toxic culture, and a lack of a predatory algorithm that focuses on negative posts. Musk’s management of X has seen a dramatic uptick in controversial content on the platform, which many users desire to get away from. Musk’s changes to the verification of “official” accounts on X led to paying users being pushed to the top of many feeds. Online trolls and scammers took advantage of this to make their posts appear over other posts, leading to a perception that X was now supporting toxicity and negativity.
Many are beginning to see X’s competitors reach a “critical mass” of users in which a greater community forms on the platform and overall engagement rises. Several major accounts have moved to Bluesky, including bestselling author Stephen King and “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill. Mass audiences have also moved, such as much of the fanbase of musical artist Taylor Swift.
Altogether, the growth of Threads and Bluesky shows a potential paradigm shift in social media; an increase of negative sentiment towards toxic content, and a desire to rebuild communities in a friendlier environment. If this post-election growth holds, it may lead to a future where many users are split between Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon, and X is left for everyone else, people unwilling or unable to leave.