Bluesky has been high of thoughts for social media professionals just lately. The text-based, open supply social media platform has been seeing speedy progress, including 1,000,000 customers a day for a number of days in November 2024.
So what’s Bluesky all about? Ought to your model be exploring this new-ish social community? Right here’s all the pieces that you must know.
What’s Bluesky?
Bluesky is a decentralized, text-based social media app created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. It’s now led by CEO Jay Graber.
“Decentralized” implies that Bluesky runs on a system (the AT protocol) that’s not managed by anyone particular person or group. As an alternative, builders and people have extra management over the person expertise, and the workings of the community are extra clear.
Meaning Bluesky is very customizable. There are at the moment greater than 50,000 algorithmic feeds obtainable, and anybody can create a brand new feed. This can be a important distinction from social platforms the place a grasp algorithm controls what customers see.
Supply: Bluesky
Bluesky began as an invite-only app, however it has been open to anybody who desires to hitch since February 2024.
Why is Bluesky gaining popularity?
First, let’s affirm that Bluesky is certainly gaining popularity with a few fast stats.
Google searches for Bluesky peaked the week of November 17-23, 2024, however consideration stays robust heading into 2025.
Supply: Google Traits
The Bluesky app can be seeing important downloads on each iOS and Android. Actually, it turned the highest free app within the Apple App Retailer in mid-November. (Adopted by Threads, Meta’s X various.)
Supply: Statista
Bluesky’s distinctive U.S. guests have greater than doubled within the final 12 months. Nonetheless, as you’ll be able to see within the chart beneath, they’re nonetheless only a fraction of the guests seen by X.
Supply: eMarketer
So, what’s behind the expansion in reputation?
A substitute for X
X has seen a number of change since Elon Musk rebranded it from Twitter. Customers have expressed considerations about content material moderation insurance policies, misinformation, and the general tone of discourse.
X has turn out to be more and more political, partly as a result of it’s the platform the place persons are almost definitely to particularly search out political info. Pew Analysis Middle discovered that 59% of X’s U.S. customers say they use it to maintain up with politics or political points, in comparison with simply 36% of TikTok customers and 26% of these on Fb and Instagram.
For manufacturers specifically, this may create a problem. Political insurance policies are the highest cultural space shoppers say manufacturers ought to avoid on social media. Some view Bluesky in its place with a much less political slant, the place issues are extra mild and enjoyable. (Others would say it has an equally political slant, only a extra left-leaning one.)
Bluesky started its growth again in 2019 as a Twitter challenge to “develop an open and decentralized customary for social media,” partially as a result of “present social media incentives often result in consideration being centered on content material and dialog that sparks controversy and outrage, fairly than dialog which informs and promotes well being.”
Increased (and extra genuine) engagement
We checked in with a number of social entrepreneurs to see why they’re utilizing Bluesky. These utilizing the platform virtually universally highlighted engagement on the platform as a key purpose to make use of it. Most mentioned they’re nonetheless utilizing X as effectively.
“What’s notably notable about Bluesky are the real engagement ranges, with an viewers that reveals much more significant interplay than what I’ve skilled on X just lately,” says Dana Ditomaso, founder & lead teacher at Kick Level Playbook. “The platform at the moment has a better proportion of actual, engaged customers who’re genuinely concerned about significant discussions and content material sharing. This interprets to raised high quality interactions and extra substantive engagement along with your posts.”
Matias Rodsevich, founder & CEO of PRLab, says that Bluesky’s “close-knit group” affords the chance for “a extra direct dialog.” Likewise, Niclas Schlopsna, managing marketing consultant and CEO of spectup, says Bluesky at this time is harking back to Twitter’s early days, calling it a “uncooked, unpolished area the place engagement feels extra genuine and intimate.”
Who’s utilizing Bluesky?
So who’s utilizing Bluesky now? With greater than 25 million Bluesky customers, the quick reply is plenty of individuals. And, because the feedback from markers above present, they’re extremely engaged individuals making the most of Bluesky’s customizable feeds to seek out related communities. That mentioned, let’s have a look at a number of key teams on the platform.
First, the USA makes up the platform’s largest person base, adopted by Japan and Brazil. The massive variety of Brazilian customers is probably going influenced by a ban on X in that nation between late August and early October. Greater than 85% of latest customers originally of September got here from Brazil.
When it comes to business, journalists and publications have made a major transfer to Bluesky. This can be partly as a result of Bluesky makes it very simple for journalists and publications to get verified. It’s additionally as a result of Bluesky doesn’t demote hyperlinks, which many different social algorithms do.
That mentioned, sports activities journalists and sports activities publications are notably lacking from the platform for now.
Researchers and lecturers are one other group utilizing Bluesky in comparatively giant numbers. As of December 2024, Digital Science discovered that “over 22% of researchers have been utilizing Bluesky over some other social media channel.” Altmetric studies that since October 25, they’ve discovered 395,000 Bluesky posts linking to analysis papers or analysis objects.
How will you use Bluesky for enterprise?
So, how ought to your technique for Bluesky differ out of your plans on different social platforms? Listed here are a number of concepts to maximise your online business success on this budding social platform.
Thought management
As with all new platform, there are advantages to being an early adopter. A kind of is having the ability to set the tone or customary for different manufacturers to comply with.
You’ve got the chance to make use of Bluesky to determine a powerful POV and place your self as a thought chief or go-to useful resource in your business earlier than anybody else does.
Supply: Dana DiTomaso on Bluesky
As an early person, you’ll be able to set the tone for the way different manufacturers find yourself sharing and interesting.
Bluesky’s welcoming angle towards outbound hyperlinks is a serious plus right here, because it lets you hyperlink out to longer thought management content material like weblog posts, fairly than attempting to condense all the pieces down into a number of hundred characters.
Join with the press
X has lengthy been a supply for real-time updates or breaking information. Journalists, specifically, have relied on the platform to share these updates, supply info, or join with potential topics.
Because the Twitter setting has shifted, many journalists and media corporations have flocked to each Bluesky and Mastodon as alternate options.
For companies, this implies you should use Bluesky to attach with the media for PR or brand-building functions. You can even keep on high of business information.
Bluesky makes it simple to seek out and curate individuals you wish to see content material from. You possibly can create customized feeds and add customers to them to start out seeing their content material. You can even add feeds that individuals have already created, like Journalists on Bluesky.
Publications and media organizations may also create their very own starter packs of group members, which you’ll comply with if there’s a specific publication you’re concerned about, or use to seek out probably the most related reporter or editor in your pitch. For instance, try the starter packs from TechCrunch and the Journey Media Affiliation of Canada.
Supply: Techcrunch starter pack on Bluesky
Attain (or create) area of interest communities
These starter packs and feeds we simply talked about are particularly designed to foster group.
They assist individuals discover and join with communities based mostly on a selected matter, curiosity, or business. Individuals can get very inventive with their starter packs, so that they’re extremely helpful for manufacturers to probe for insights into group formation and group bonds.
Right here’s a really area of interest group that is probably not of a lot use to manufacturers however is simply too charming to not point out:
Supply: Dan Smith, PhD starter pack on Bluesky
Sure, it’s a starter pack of all the parents named Dan Smith who’ve PhDs on Bluesky.
Tailoring your content material to a distinct segment viewers might help you attain people who find themselves extra more likely to interact with and be concerned about what your model has to say.
“We’ve included Bluesky into our technique as a result of it offers a recent and rising area the place we will attain extra area of interest communities and experiment with a barely completely different tone and elegance of content material,” says Jakob Kapus, CMO of NewsAPI.ai. “We use X for broader, extra mainstream engagement and use Bluesky to construct deeper, extra genuine relationships with particular teams.”
Be much less promotional
Thus far, largely because of the ad-free setting, Bluesky feels lots much less promotional than different platforms. It’s a good suggestion for companies utilizing Bluesky to focus much less on selling their model and extra on beginning conversations with their viewers.
“I’ve woven Bluesky into my advertising technique by sharing extra thought-provoking content material, inviting open suggestions periods, and experimenting with new approaches,” says Matias Rodsevich, founder & CEO of PRLab. “It’s like a inventive workshop the place I collect concepts earlier than taking them to the bigger stage on X. On Bluesky, I additionally really feel extra snug asking my followers what they need, which helps information future campaigns.”
Supply: PRLab on Bluesky
Use Bluesky as a testing floor
Bluesky remains to be comparatively new, so there isn’t actually a confirmed components for creating partaking content material but. Lots of the entrepreneurs we spoke with mentioned they’re nonetheless experimenting with the platform, or utilizing it to check advertising concepts earlier than launching a marketing campaign on a bigger platform.
“I’ve been utilizing Bluesky to check out new content material ideas and assess viewers reactions,” says Evgeni Asenov, website positioning & content material lead at Resume Mentor. “This suggestions cycle helps enhance what’s subsequently shared on X, the place the viewers is bigger.”
“I’ve used it to share behind-the-scenes content material, interact in conversations with followers, and take a look at extra natural, unpolished messaging,” says Wes Wakefield, founding father of Professional Espresso Gear. “The smaller group permits for direct suggestions, which helps refine our method.”
Earlier than you begin sharing content material, spend a while exploring related communities to see how customers are interacting and what forms of conversations are being began. Use your analysis to create a singular model place that meets these wants and behaviors.
Declare your deal with for the longer term
Not prepared so as to add Bluesky to your social media technique but? We hear you: You’ve already obtained lots in your plate!
We nonetheless advocate you open an account to order your deal with on the platform now. That means you’ll be able to go in case you resolve to dive in later. Plus, creating an account lets you discover the platform intimately and see how persons are utilizing it, so you may get a way of the place your model might slot in.
Bluesky, Mastodon, Threads: How are the X alternate options completely different?
Bluesky just isn’t the one X various on the town. Mastodon and Threads are additionally important gamers on this discipline.
Right here’s a fast overview of how these platforms examine for key options.
BlueskyMastodonThreadsX
Users25.9 million9.1 million275 million415.3 million
AdsNoNoComing soonYes
DecentralizedYesYesNoNo
Character count300500500280
VideosYesYesYesYes
VerificationYes (by your web site)Sure (by your web site)Sure (by Instagram)Sure (paid program)
Trending topicsYes (in Beta)YesU.S. onlyYes
Direct messagingYesYesNoYes
HashtagsYesYesYes (however with out the # image)Sure
For extra particulars, try our posts on Mastodon, Threads, and X.
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