Bluesky continues to soar, adding 2M more new users in a matter of days | TechCrunch

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the rapid growth of the social networking startup Bluesky in Brazil following the shutdown of X (formerly Twitter) in the country. It highlights Bluesky's surge in user signups, downloads, and engagement metrics, as well as the factors that contribute to its appeal to Brazilians who have left X.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Bluesky's Growth in Brazil

1. What are the key metrics that demonstrate Bluesky's rapid growth in Brazil?

• Bluesky added over 2 million new users in the past 4 days, up from just 500,000 users a few days earlier
• Bluesky became the #1 app in Brazil, surpassing Instagram Threads
• Bluesky's total downloads soared by 10,584% over the weekend, with a 1,018,952% increase in downloads in Brazil
• Bluesky's downloads outside Brazil also rose by 584%
• The number of likes on Bluesky grew from 13 million to 104.6 million in the past 4 days
• Follows grew from 1.4 million to 100.8 million, and reposts grew from 1.3 million to 11 million

2. What challenges did Bluesky face due to the rapid influx of new users?

• Bluesky engineers had to scramble to keep the servers stable as users encountered "Not Enough Resources" errors

[02] Factors Contributing to Bluesky's Appeal

1. How does Bluesky's user experience compare to X (Twitter)?

• Bluesky offers similar features to X, such as likes, reposts, quote posts, lists, direct messages, search tools, and user profiles
• Bluesky also improves on X's capabilities, as a decentralized social network where users can set up their own instances, customize feeds, subscribe to third-party moderation services, and create/share "starter packs"
• Bluesky plans to add support for video in an upcoming update

2. How does Bluesky's approach to content and moderation differ from Threads (Instagram's competitor to X)?

• Threads has said it will not default to recommending political content, aiming to be more palatable to brands and influencers
• Bluesky's decentralized nature means moderation decisions are left to users, rather than being controlled by the platform's owners
• This flexibility, combined with Bluesky's ease of use, may make it more appealing to Brazilians who want a Twitter-like experience with less centralized control

3. How does Bluesky's growth compare to that of Mastodon, another decentralized social network?

• Mastodon saw a much smaller increase in signups from Brazil (4,200) compared to Bluesky's rapid growth
• This suggests Brazilians may prefer a platform that more closely resembles the Twitter/X experience, in addition to decentralization