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In the wake of the US election, millions of users have been joining Bluesky every day.

A decentralized rival to X (formerly Twitter), the platform now has more than 20 million users.

A phone showing the Bluesky Social app

According to data fromSimilarweb, daily usage grew by more than 500% after the election.

That surge can be attributed in large part to the dissatisfaction of countless X (formerly Twitter) users.

Its been two years sinceElon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billionand rebranded it as X.

A laptop screen showing a Bluesky feed

That being said, not everyone has heard of Bluesky.

What is Bluesky?

It then became a separate company in 2021.

Two iPhones showing a Bluesky feed

Blueskys majority owner is now CEO, Jay Graber.

Blueskys main differentiator is that its open and decentralized.

The original idea was that this standard would be adopted by Twitter.

A laptop screen showing a Bluesky feed

Bluesky is a social data pipe that was inspired by Twitter, but works in a different way.

Rather than being centralized, it’s open and decentralized which means no single company controls it.

Bluesky also gives account holders a lot more control over the moderation of content on their own feeds.

Two iPhones showing a Bluesky feed

Users initially had to be invited to join Bluesky, but accounts became publicly available in February.

Bluesky vs Twitter: what are the main differences?

you’re able to also create posts of up to 256 characters.

A laptop screen showing a Bluesky feed

Likewise, profiles on Bluesky borrow heavily from the platforms Twitter roots.

As mentioned above, one of Blueskys biggest selling points is that its decentralized.

In contrast, X centralizes data processing and content moderation, taking it out of the hands of users.

In contrast, Bluesky lets you choose how you want to filter content.

But Bluesky goes further, giving you algorithmic choice by allowing you to create your own custom feeds.

Graber claims that more than 50,000 feeds are currently available, catering to all kinds interests and themes.

As Bluesky continues to gain more users, the number of custom feeds available will increase.

Bluesky vs Threads: what are the main differences?

Like Bluesky,Threadsis a relatively new microblogging platform born out of the recent controversies surrounding Twitter/X.

Developed and owned by Meta, users can sign in to Threads using their Instagram account details.

Visually, Threads has a stripped-back user interface with an aesthetic very similar to Instagram.

Thats something its trying to address with new features.

Inspired by Bluesky, Threads is rolling out support for custom feeds based on topics.

This rebalancing should mean that the For you feed shows more content that you care about.

you’re able to do this online atbsky.appor by downloading the app from theApp StoreorGoogle Play Store.

Signing up is straightforward.

Migrating an X account over to Bluesky is a little trickier.

Bluesky private accounts: is it possible to have one?

Bluesky describes itself as a public social online grid, with the AT Protocol designed to support public conversations.

That means anyone on the web can see them, including your posts and likes.

Bluesky says to treat your posts as blog posts.

As a result, you cant lock your profile.

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