How to Navigate Bluesky: The Rising Alternative to Elon Musk’s X

Bluesky now has more than 16 million users and is rapidly becoming the most popular option to take on Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter. Bluesky saw a massive increase in users after the U.S. presidential election when many started leaving X. Those users say they’re concerned about the right-wing bias of X, changes Musk has made to its blocking features, and issues around its content being used to train AI.

While X is still the top dog when it comes to users, other entrants are gaining. For instance, Meta’s Threads has gained more than 15 million users just in November and now has 275 million monthly active users. In contrast to Threads, which uses Meta as a backstop, Bluesky positions itself as an indie project-its central philosophy emphasizes decentralization and user control.

Bluesky differentiates itself with a decentralized model built on the AT Protocol. This allows users to host their data, unlike the centralized systems of X or Threads. Despite similarities in features like posts, replies, and private messages, Bluesky empowers users with tools to customize feeds and algorithms.Signing up for Bluesky is easy: Users can register on the web at bsky.app or download the app for iOS or Android. Once a user has created an account, they can explore feeds and interact with others, and even use their own domain as their handle.

Bluesky also has a suite of third-party apps such as Skeets and Graysky, for alternative experiences. Users can also create or follow custom feeds-out of over 40,000 available for everything from news and science to communities like Black Sky.

Blue Sky has user-driven moderation, providing block and mute options, customizable lists, and independent moderation services. It is contrary to the top-down moderation on X or Threads. New tools, like Sky Follower Bridge, help users find and follow friends from X. Unique to Bluesky, its unique features, along with rapid growth, point toward it outcompeting X. By placing user control and customization at the forefront, the platform is quickly carving its niche in the social media landscape.