Social media platform Bluesky added over 700,000 users in a week, according to a report on Tuesday, as it is seen as a top alternative to the Elon Musk-owned platform X, which many reportedly decided to leave prior to and after the U.S. elections.
This pushed the young platform’s total user numbers over 14.5 million, Bluesky COO Rose Wang told the tech-focused website The Verge.
A majority of the new Bluesky users are from the U.S., Wang was cited as saying.
Bluesky is now the second-most downloaded social media app in the U.S. Appstore, the report said, only trailing Meta-owned Threads.
The outcome of last week’s U.S. presidential election could have spurred a surge in new users for Bluesky, with Musk one of President-elect Donald Trump’s biggest and highest-profile supporters.
People might be seeking an alternative to platforms owned by Musk or seeking a new forum due to the rise in hate speech on X, said the Verge.
Bluesky, originally created as a project within Twitter in 2019, became an independent company in 2022.
Currently led by Jay Graber, the platform is said to have also gained 3 million new users following the temporary suspension of X in Brazil in September.
