The “blue sky” application, identifiable by its butterfly logo, offers an environment, at this stage, calmer than the old Twitter. With currently just over 20 million global users, we are still far from the 335 million active users (according to Statista, 547 million according to Musk) of X. On Bluesky, there are – for the moment – no advertisements or certified account formulas. The network presents itself as open source and decentralized, without a central algorithm. This environment is perceived as more relaxing, less aggressive or even more boring than its competitor.
What is Bluesky, the platform that has gained millions of users since the American presidential election
Safe-space
For many exiles from X, the choice was made for security reasons. On Bluesky, it is still possible to block a person with whom the user does not wish to interact for various reasons (harassment, aggressiveness, insults, etc.). The butterfly app still presents certain aspects of a safe-space with “anti-toxicity” parameters. On X, it’s quite the opposite since Elon Musk decided to remove the blocking functionality and a large part of the moderation.
In the Belgian political world, some know how to adapt to the conditions offered by X. Others quickly wanted to flee him. Especially on the left. Last year, several elected officials from Ecolo and Groen opened an account on Bluesky. In the fall of 2023, we saw the arrival of ministers Zakia Khattabi, Alain Maron and Barbara Trachte as well as MP Rajae Maouane and current co-president Marie Lecocq. Over the course of a year, however, they were not very active. Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter made her debut there on Tuesday.
Alternative to X, the Bluesky social network gains a million users in 24 hours
X-odus
The big “X-odus” started after the American elections. After observing the impact that Elon Musk had in Trump’s victory, several major international media (The Guardian, La Vanguardia) announced that they were leaving the scene. Several personalities and big brands have done the same: Stephen King, Elton John, Neil Young, IBM, Comcast, Paramount Global, Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Ubisoft…
In the process, many Belgian journalists joined Bluesky. Politicians are becoming rarer. In addition to the environmentalists already mentioned, we observe the presence of Vooruit and the PS. Both accounts each have less than 100 followers and have not posted anything. The president of the PS, Paul Magnette, and the head of the PS group, Christie Morreale in the Walloon parliament are also present, but also silent.
The Belgian right is almost absent, with the exception of Egbert Lachaert, former president of the Open VLD, Vincent Van Peteghem (CD&V), Minister of Finance, two parody accounts by Bart De Wever, president of the N- VA, and a false Vlaams Belang account. Note also the presence of Brussels MP Geoffrey Coomans de Brachène (MR). The Secretary of State in charge of Digitalization, Mathieu Michel (MR), is, on the other hand, absent from the network.
Overall, we observe that few Belgian politicians really use Bluesky because the platform does not yet offer them the same showcase as X. However, given that approximately 8 new users register every second on the network, perhaps will they come more actively in a few weeks.
