Featured Image Credit: Anna Barclay/Contributor / Anna Moneymaker/Staff / Getty Images
Bluesky has soared since the election, with celebrities and ordinary folk alike fleeing X for 'bluer' pastures.
Like lemmings leaping off cliffs, the X exodus (or should that be Xodus?) looks like it's finally here. While some people packed up and decided they'd get their social media fix elsewhere as soon as Elon Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, others have clung on through name changes, the reinstatement of Donald Trump, and accusations of election bias. However, as major news organizations like The Guardian decide to call it a day and head to pastures new, a series of high-profile celebrities are following suit.
X has become a lawless place where critics claim racism, homophobia, and extremist views are allowed to run free. Looking for a more harmonious alternative, Bluesky has seen its user numbers skyrocket.
Said to be like Twitter was back in the day, a number of X users have already tried to mock Bluesky by posting their typically controversial posts on the platform - only to find out that they've quickly been banned. This has led to some pretty high-profile names seeking solace on the blue side.
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I have faced fascism before, in this very country. I was one of 120,000 Japanese Americans summarily rounded up and expelled from our homes at gunpoint, all for the crime of looking like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor. I spent my childhood behind barbed wire. My parents lost everything. 1/
— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) November 16, 2024 at 12:43 AM
Welcoming newcomers with open arms, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber cheered: "We’re excited to welcome everyone looking for a better social media experience."
If you notice your favorite celebrity is MIA on X, chances are they might've set up up shop on Bluesky.
Among the A-list stars who've called it a day on X, we've got the likes of Star Wars' Mark Hamill, Star Trek's George Takei, horror legend Stephen King, singing sensation Barbra Streisand, and the legendary Lizzo.
An exhaustive list includes DCU overlord James Gunn, director Guillermo del Toro, vocal legend Dionne Warwick, Ben Stiller, Bring It On's Gabrielle Union, Abbott Elementary's Quinta Brunson, journalist Don Lemon, political commentators Joy-Ann Reid and Rachel Maddow, businessman Mark Cuban, Charmed's Alyssa Milano, Weird Al Yankovic, Community's Yvette Nicole Brown, Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer, Conan Sidekick Andy Richter, and even Flavor Flav.
Feeling like we're in something from The Matrix, it's no surprise that co-director Lilly Wachowski has also moved to Bluesky. Wachowski famously said, "F**k both of you" in a 2020 tweet where Musk and Ivanka Trump were talking about The Matrix.
18M + 1. 💙, Mar🐫
— Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) 17 November 2024 at 02:58
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Posting on their new home, Takei wrote a charged thread that ended saying: "Look to community. Look to friends and family who stood with us and who suffer the grief of this loss with us. In their company find comfort.
"And when you are ready to stand up and fight, I will be with you, too. We will prevail. For the light always defeats the darkness."
King added: "Thank you to everyone who welcomed me to BlueSky. Much appreciated."
Streisand simply wrote, "There are no words left," while Lizzo is fighting with people thinking she's not the real Lizzo on Bluesky.
Other names are being added to the list on a daily basis, and while there should be over 500 million active monthly users on X, it'll be interesting to see how this post-election slump affects things.
Bluesky's users are growing at a rate of million sign-ups a day, and as the 'answer' to X continues to boom, it's just crossed milestone 20-million mark.
This isn't the first time Bluesky has benefitted from X's loss, as only recently, it celebrated 500,000 new users in a day thanks to Musk controversially rolling back X's block feature.
Whether this really is the start of a new era where Bluesky reigns supreme, we're sure Musk and X won't go down without a fight.
