The recent ban on Elon Musk's social media platform X in Brazil has led to a significant surge in users for its smaller competitor, Bluesky.
As Brazilians seek alternatives to express their opinions, Bluesky has seen an extraordinary influx of new users. The platform announced that it gained two million new users in just one week, a remarkable increase from its previous count of half a million.
TWO MILLION new people in the last week! a very warm welcome! DOIS MILHÕES de pessoas novas na última semana! uma calorosa recepção a todos! — Bluesky (@bsky.app) Sep 3, 2024 at 3:24 AM
Bluesky Experiences Technical Issues Amid Rapid Growth
However, this rapid growth has not been without issues. On Wednesday (September 4), Bluesky experienced technical difficulties, leading to outages as the platform struggled to handle the unprecedented traffic.
According to CNBC, Paul Frazee, a Bluesky developer, acknowledged these challenges, stating, "There will almost certainly be some outages and performance issues. We've never seen traffic like this. Hang with us!"
The surge in Bluesky's traffic follows a Brazilian Supreme Court decision to temporarily suspend X nationwide. This ruling was confirmed by a Supreme Court panel on Monday. Prior to the ban, X had indicated it would not comply with Brazilian court orders concerning its content moderation policies or appoint a new legal representative in the country.
In response to the ban, Judge Alexandre de Moraes has ordered daily fines for individuals or businesses in Brazil using virtual private networks (VPNs) or other means to access X. Brazil, with its substantial user base of over 22 million for X, has seen significant shifts in social media usage.
Bluesky's recent success has positioned it as the top free app on Brazil's iOS App Store, surpassing Meta's Threads, which is also an alternative to X. Threads has seen its own growth but remains behind Bluesky in Brazil. Threads' official account announced its return to the App Store on Wednesday, though details remain scarce.
Bluesky, which was originally launched in 2019 as a decentralized social protocol supported by Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, achieved independence as a separate entity in 2021.
Dorsey, who ended his association with the platform earlier this year, initially developed Bluesky to provide a decentralized alternative to traditional social networks. Since becoming independent, Bluesky has competed with Threads and Mastodon, another decentralized network.
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Bluesky's Surge, Global Expansion
The recent rise in Bluesky's popularity is part of a broader trend as users migrate from X. Despite its own issues, Threads has over 200 million monthly active users, according to Instagram head Adam Mosseri. In contrast, X recently reported 600 million monthly active users and approximately 300 million daily active users.
Bluesky's rapid growth in Brazil has also been noted in other countries. The app experienced a dramatic 10,584% increase in total downloads over the weekend, with downloads in Brazil rising by over 1,018,952%. This growth is mirrored by significant increases in other countries, including the United States, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Spain.
New users have been highly active on Bluesky, with the platform reporting a sharp rise in likes, follows, and reposts. The number of likes surged from 13 million to 104.6 million in just four days, while follows increased from 1.4 million to 100.8 million, according to TechCrunch.
Bluesky's appeal may stem from its similarity to the now rebranded X, previously known as Twitter. The platform offers features such as likes, reposts, and direct messages, while also providing users with decentralized options to create their own servers and moderate content.
