Elon Musk's X is being challenged by Bluesky, Twitter's former project.

The social media platform Bluesky, founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, has gained popularity among users looking to leave X. The platform, which is now its own company, has over 28 million users.

"Meghana Dhar, a strategic advisor and former head of partnerships at Instagram and Inc., believes that the growth numbers for Bluesky are impressive due to the vacuum left by old Twitter. According to her, when Elon Musk took over Twitter and it transformed into something else, content moderation changed, pricing options were altered, and many people left."

"According to Salvador Rodriguez, deputy tech editor at CNBC, this platform now appears to be more targeted towards right-leaning or conservative users. However, for those who prefer not to be presented with such content, Bluesky offers a completely different vibe with the same mechanisms."

Bluesky resembles old Twitter in appearance and functionality, allowing users to post short messages with photos or videos, interact with others' posts through commenting, liking, or reposting, and have feeds consisting of followed accounts and subscribed feeds. However, unlike traditional social media platforms, Bluesky is designed to be decentralized, giving users more control over their data and content visibility.

"Bluesky CEO Jay Graber stated in a CNBC interview in November that the platform does not control what users see and there is no single algorithm showing things. Instead, users can browse a marketplace of algorithms created by others. Additionally, users have the option to build their own algorithm to view specific content, such as cats or art. Bluesky also allows users to export their posts, likes, and followers to other platforms, making the platform "billionaire-proof," as stated by Graber."

While Bluesky currently does not have ads as its primary business model, its leadership has not ruled out the possibility of hosting ads in the future.

"Graber stated that they won't create an algorithm that forces ads on users and keeps them locked in. Instead, their model involves enhancing user experiences, introducing new features, and implementing a subscription model as well as services in the developer ecosystem. This isn't just for users, but also for those who want to develop."

Building a successful social media platform is a challenging task, as evidenced by Bluesky's struggle with impersonator accounts and scammers as it has grown. In 2024, Bluesky received 6.48 million reports from its moderation service, compared to 358,000 reports in 2023. To learn more about Bluesky's growth and the challenges it faces in a fragmented social media market, watch the video.