Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform previously linked to Jack Dorsey, is swiftly narrowing the distance to Meta’s Threads. While Bluesky’s browser version exceeded Threads in overall engagement weeks ago, its mobile application has now skyrocketed to an impressive 3.5 million daily active users. This positions it at just 1.5 times behind Threads, a remarkable feat considering Threads boasted five times the active users of Bluesky earlier this month.

The platform’s astounding expansion has been especially remarkable since the November 5 election. Data from Similarweb, as cited by the *Financial Times*, reveals that Bluesky’s user count has surged by an incredible 300% since Election Day. Disillusioned by the chaos on Elon Musk’s X (previously Twitter), journalists, academics, and organizations are gravitating towards Bluesky, adopting it as their new online refuge.

So, what prompts users to prefer Bluesky over Threads? A significant reason appears to be Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s choice to reduce political content on Threads. This action has disenchanted users in search of meaningful public dialogue, with critics viewing it as an attempt to maintain favor with President-elect Donald Trump. Consequently, Threads has found it challenging to position itself as a venue for substantial political and cultural discussions.

Conversely, Bluesky has swiftly transformed into the favored platform for what commentator Max Read refers to as the “Politically Engaged Email Job Blob”—the same crowd that helped mold early Twitter into a cultural influence. This transition has established Bluesky as a center for lively debates and interactions.

Nonetheless, Bluesky’s swift growth has not been free of obstacles. The platform has encountered growing pains, including technical difficulties such as outages and glitches, alongside a rise in scams and fraudulent accounts. As more users flock to this budding “Twitter alternative,” these issues are likely to continue in the near term.

In spite of these challenges, Bluesky’s rapid advancement and its allure to politically and culturally engaged individuals indicate it could significantly influence the future of online conversations.