An Xodus is upon us. Not the biblical Exodus — rather, an exodus from the social media website, X. Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site in October 2022 and the recent involvement he has had in the 2024 presidential election and with the current Trump administration has left X users feeling disillusioned.

Now, Bluesky has entered the ring. Unlike X, Bluesky promises simplicity, community, and a break from the corporate chaos. Since its inception in February 2024, 24 million users flocked to the site.

For now, the platform has earned a reputation as a haven for those weary of social media giants. Posts trend with positivity rather than outrage, and users are invested in cultivating a supportive digital culture. Critics warn that this honeymoon phase may be short-lived, but for Bluesky’s devoted newcomers, the optimism feels real. “This site really does feel like 2019 Twitter in a good way,” posted journalist Taylor Lorenz on her Bluesky. 

At first glance, Bluesky and X seem like parallel. A stream of light blue on the page, a simple timeline to get updated, and an odd sense of (relative) calm. Entering the app feels akin to X’s former form, Twitter. So why do so many Bluesky users insist on the so-called Xodus?

For some, it all comes down to one person: Elon Musk, one who continues to orchestrate a masterclass in mismanagement that leaves users complaining into the timeline void — and looking for alternatives.

Further adding fuel to the fire is Musk’s alliance with Donald Trump. After Musk’s purchase of Twitter, in October of 2022, his journey from tech billionaire to dark, gothic MAGA headliner has been highly publicized. Prior to the purchase, Musk’s thoughts on politics on the platform remained less controversial and more constructive. “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” wrote Musk on X in April of 2022. Except, unless political neutrality means using AI to boost election fraud conspiracy, Musk hasn’t kept up with his claims.

While the election-denying claims of Trump caused Twitter, amid many other social media sites, to ban Trump from the platform, Musk did the opposite. Rather, he’s set a new norm, publicly parading support for Trump after donating over 200 million dollars to his campaign.

Every social media site has its algorithm. TikTok, for one, brings users videos and trending sounds that align with patterns of interaction, with its ‘For You Page’ famous for bringing relevant content to people’s feeds. While this design trends similarly across other content apps like Instagram and YouTube, X is making some different changes in the new year. 

“Algorithm tweak coming soon to promote more informational/entertaining content…Our goal is to maximize unregretted user-seconds,” Musk wrote on X, “Too much negativity is being pushed that technically grows user time, but not unregretted user time.” On the surface level, social media does seem to be over-dominated by so-called ‘negativity.’ However, a larger question lies underneath this push for positivity. 

Bluesky differentiates itself through both the user experience and the tech behind every post on the app. 

For the average scroller, the day-to-day energy on Bluesky draws appeal. “Bluesky just feels like such a calmer alternative to X. Overall, I’d say the interactions are much more pleasant,” said Anika Mahbub ’25. It’s not just the users acting congenial. Bluesky notably has fewer bots and is uniquely catered to each user. 

Intriguingly, Bluesky allows its users to customize their feed without repressing certain content. It allows people to select and create their own algorithms, filtering posts into curated streams. Do you want to escape the cycle of misinformation on other platforms? Look no further than the Science feed on Bluesky. Tens of thousands of followers have added this feed to their timelines, curated to see the latest information from professional scientists on Bluesky. Do you want a quaint look into the simplicities of an online community? Try scrolling through the Gardening feed: “Your one-stop-shop for houseplants, chickens, flowers, botany, foraging, and anything related to plants.” 

One could spend their morning scrolling a feed of only cat photos or verses of poetry. This ability to shape the flow of information, rather than being shaped by it, feels revolutionary in a digital age where platforms dictate what we see. On the social side of features, Bluesky’s atmosphere trends toward strengthening friendships. “Instead of a page filled with influencers like on TikTok or an app for chatting like Discord, it’s a hybrid of the two,” said Mahbub. 

What separates Bluesky is the leadership behind the timeline. Leaders at Bluesky have already indicated that they intend to limit ads on the platform, a strategy that resonates with many seeking respite from the hyper-commercialized digital world.

“Elon Musk is calling for less negativity on X,” writes Australian political activist Matthew Camenzuli. “Is it about optimism? Hope? Or is it to silence debate?” While Musk’s tweaks to X since his purchase of the platform aren’t new, changes to X under the newly inaugurated President Trump could be problematic. 

Yet, Bluesky’s size still pales in comparison to that of X or Meta’s Threads platform.

While Bluesky has positioned itself as a decentralized and community-driven alternative to X, Meta’s Threads takes a more conventional approach, leveraging its integration with Instagram’s massive user base, garnering over 275 million monthly users 25 million on Bluesky. Just as people shift away from Musk, many are disillusioned by the ravaging of the billionaires’ influence on social media.

Just look at The Washington Post. In October of 2024, owner Jeff Bezos — more well-known as the chairman of Amazon — blocked the Post’s endorsement of Kamala Harris as presidential candidate. Over 200,000 people canceled their digital subscriptions in response to Bezos’s actions. 

Many content creators and business owners themselves use social media as a tool for the promotion of external ventures. It’s leveraging its platform to urge others to ‘Come see my upcoming comedy show’ or ‘Watch my new podcast episode’ among other projects. Posts like these introduce followers to new content, but can effectively redirect away from the actual social media platform. More often than not, these posts link to other websites, ones as YouTube, Ticketmaster, and Etsy. Redirecting means less engagement: if you’re X or Threads, that means danger. When in danger, X seems to have turned to suppressing posts with links.

Content creator Hank Green conducted an informal experiment where he posted the same content to X, Threads, and Bluesky and compared the likes and engagement each “I did not realize the extent to which links were down ranked [on X ]. There’s no motivation for that aside from trying to make people forget that there’s an alternative to what you’re selling,” said Green in a YouTube video titled Twitter (and Threads) Have Made a HUGE Mistake, “I think that this is a big problem for Threads and Twitter and a huge advantage for Bluesky.” 

Bluesky’s rapid growth may satiate the hunger for alternatives in a landscape dominated by a handful of tech giants, but questions remain about its long-term viability. Can Bluesky scale without losing the sense of community that makes it unique? Will people simply lose interest over time?

“I’ve been using the app less and less. It feels more positive, but it’s still so much less active than X,” said Mahaub. Months after Election Day, Bluesky’s buzz is already wavering. Once driven by the excitement of a million new users a day, Bluesky finds itself settling into the quieter activity of a platform no longer riding the crest of novelty. Its smaller size leaves some wanting more. “It lacks discoverability. There are people who want to move to Bluesky but don’t really want to leave X itself — Bluesky isn’t completely unique, and it’s hard to move on from what’s familiar,” added Mahbub.

Bluesky’s rise, while impressive, comes with significant challenges. Scaling up often brings pressures to monetize and compromise users in favor of a sustainable business model. Unfortunately, fears like these risk diluting the very qualities that make Bluesky appealing.

Competing with tech behemoths like Meta and surviving in a landscape that favors large, established platforms will require Bluesky to remain innovative and ethical. No matter the ideologies Musk champions on and off X, people can be desensitized to such negativity. Like every social media before it, Bluesky will need to stand the test of time to stay in the mix. If it doesn’t, the seemingly bluer skies may fall by the wayside. 

“This site really does feel like 2019 Twitter in a good way,” posted journalist Taylor Lorenz on her Bluesky.