What is Bluesky? Elon Musk’s X Rival Social Network, Explained

Donald Trump’s American election victory – and Elon Musk‘s role in helping get him elected — has sent some users of Musk’s social networking service X scrambling for alternatives. Musk has spent months pushing Trump’s agenda to his more than 200 million followers on X, since formerly known as Twitter, and has taken a virtual victory lap since Trump’s victory. X’s move toward the political right has turned some users away, and one of the main beneficiaries of this social media migration has been Bluesky, a relatively new social network that looks and feels a lot like X.

Blue sky is a social media service with many of the same features you might find on X, Facebook and Instagram. Users can create a profile, follow other accounts, like and share posts and send private messages. Bluesky users have the option to view several different feeds based on their interests. For example, they can see traditional feeds made up of posts from the people they choose to follow, or scroll through feeds focused on specific topics, such as science, gardening or “cat pictures”.