“Follow me on Bluesky.”
Scrolling the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) in the days after the election, it seemed like half my feed was filled with posts imploring readers to leave for a different social media site. Some were even adding it to their platform handle. It’s not just individual users, either: In the last few weeks, countless brands and media companies, including Target and The Guardian, have indeed ditched X in favor of Bluesky, an open network microblogging social site modeled after and inspired by X. Should your company join them?
Before we get to that answer, let’s go back to a simpler time. I’m old enough to remember when Twitter was useful and fun. I joined the platform in 2008, fresh out of college and working as the assistant music editor for Portland alternative newspaper, Willamette Week. When Twitter debuted, it was a sort of digital town square ideal for community building and engaging in lighthearted debate about politics, music, art and sports. I made friends through the platform and routinely live-Tweeted concerts and Blazers games. As the platform grew, it doubled its character limit, dealt with an influx of bots and, like most social media sites, struggled with the spread of misinformation and fake news. Until a few years ago, though, it was still the place to go for breaking news and an effective way for brands to connect directly with their customers.
The idyllic version of the platform was starting to disappear before Elon Musk’s purchase in 2022, but things really took a turn this summer. As the X algorithm changed to boost Musk’s content and other politically charged posts, many users took a stand, deleting their profiles and endorsing Bluesky. Many brands have also seen their X engagement dwindle in the last few years, which raises a valid question—is Bluesky really a viable alternative?
The answer depends on what you want to get out of it. I recently created a Bluesky profile and have enjoyed my first few days on the platform. Bluesky offers custom moderation filters and lets users view a chronological feed of who they follow. It’s already filled with journalists and politicians who have grown tired of X’s legion of trolls. But it also still feels like small potatoes: With over 20 million users, Bluesky is growing at a rapid rate, but still pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions on X and Threads, Meta’s X competitor that launched in summer 2023.
My advice for any company looking to join Bluesky (or any social media platform) is to first consider your end goal. What type of content resonates with your audience? Are they likely users? Does it make sense to shift your content strategy to incorporate yet another social platform? If you’ve seen your X engagement drop, it might be worthwhile to create a Bluesky account and test posting the same content to get an apples-to-apples comparison before deciding to make a major strategy update. Social media best practices have changed over the years, though; you don’t have to be on every site posting daily. Figure out which platforms work best for your brand and focus on creating compelling content there.
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to start thinking about these big picture questions and whether you want to add Bluesky to your 2025 social strategy. Amico team members have started dipping their toes into the BlueSky water, but for now we remain committed to LinkedIn and Instagram as our main social platforms.
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Michael Mannheimer is a Portland native who has spent his career working in digital media, journalism, and the intersection of the two.