The departure of users from Elon Musk’s X has resulted in the platform losing approximately 2.7 million active Apple and Android users in the U.S. over two months, while its competitor Bluesky gained nearly 2.5 million users during the same period.
This shift has been marked by the exit of notable figures, including filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Mike Flanagan, and actors Quinta Brunson and Mark Hamill. Politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while retaining her X account, has begun posting more actively on Bluesky.
According to data from Similarweb, X’s daily active U.S. user count dropped by 8.4% since early October, falling from 32.3 million to 29.6 million. In contrast, Bluesky’s user base grew by 1,064%, climbing from 254,500 to approximately 2.7 million since October 6. The surge accelerated as Musk began using the X handle @america to promote a Trump-supporting Super PAC and regularly posted in favor of the former president.
Following Trump’s election win, Bluesky’s growth became more pronounced. Within a week of November 5, the platform’s user count doubled from 743,900 to 1.4 million, and by the next week, it had doubled again to 2.8 million. In the 50 days following Musk’s launch of the Super PAC, X’s lead over Bluesky in active U.S. users shrank from nearly 127 times to just over 10 times.
Bruce Daisley, a former Twitter vice-president for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, attributes the migration to a decline in user experience. He described Musk’s “digital town square” as a space where extreme and radical views are increasingly amplified, making it less appealing. He compared it to leaving a Christmas market if a group of racist protesters were present, saying, “I probably wouldn’t stay there.”
Daisley criticized Musk’s tolerance for amplifying polarizing content, citing Musk’s comments about far-right activist Tommy Robinson, known for promoting racist narratives.
French journalist Salomé Saqué, who had 210,000 followers on X, deactivated her account due to widespread harassment and unchecked misinformation. She believes X has become “structurally hostile to journalism and verified information” since Musk’s acquisition. Saqué now shares content on Instagram and TikTok, where she has 380,000 and 67,000 followers, respectively, and has also joined Bluesky, quickly gaining 30,000 followers. She views Bluesky as a healthier platform but remains concerned that leaving X has created a vacuum that amplifies hate, propaganda, and manipulation.
German football clubs have also exited X. Bundesliga club St. Pauli called the platform a “hate machine,” and Werder Bremen followed suit, citing X’s radicalization under Musk. The club’s communications director, Christoph Pieper, acknowledged the economic risks of leaving behind 600,000 X followers for only 9,000 on Bluesky but emphasized the importance of upholding the club’s values.
Pieper stressed that Werder Bremen’s stance against transphobia, homophobia, antisemitism, and hate speech justified the decision, saying, “For us, it’s not the place to be where there is no regulation for hate speech.” While Bluesky is their current alternative, he admitted the platform’s long-term success remains uncertain.
