What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a newly popular decentralised social media platform started by Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey and predominantly operated by Bluesky Social BPC. The platform features microblogging, with a mixture of short messages and visual assets like GIFs, videos and images.
Bluesky has seen a growth in accounts signing up from the beginning of November 2024. The dramatic influx of users seems to have coincided with the US election as a revolt against Elon Musk, X’s (formerly Twitter) owner, who has become politically entwined in the election.
Additionally, factors like Meta’s censorship of political content on Threads have likely driven some to sign up to the platform.
Bluesky offers users a platform reminiscent of Twitter in its prime, with no restrictions on how far links will go and no limitations around political content.
Currently, the platform has raked in 20 million users. According to a Similarweb report, there was a 350% surge in use in the UK and 500% in the US. Whilst these figures are high, they are not yet on the level of X or Threads, with X currently attaining over 611 million global users and Threads with 275 million.
Should my business create a Bluesky profile?
It’s always a good rule of thumb to create an account with your business’s commonly used handle in order to create consistency across different platforms. Even if your business doesn’t plan to use Bluesky actively right now, securing your account handle can save you the trouble of having to negotiate or purchase from another user in future.
Bluesky is still in its growth stage, with a much smaller community of users compared to other platforms. However, it creates opportunities for businesses to connect with their users on an alternative platform to X or Threads. Equally, establishing a presence whilst the user base is still small will enable businesses to establish their presence ahead of the potential boom of users.
Should Bluesky begin to roll out advertising features, those who adopt the app initially will likely have a competitive edge in comprehending the platform’s ecosystem. This will likely benefit those who do, as they would likely capture prime ad placement opportunities.
Planning for the future is a critical part of your business’s long-term marketing strategy, whether that involves anticipating trends, experimenting with emerging platforms, or securing a handle. Pre-empting your online presence on slowly popularised platforms is a smart way to get ahead of the curve.