Journalists flock to Bluesky as X becomes more and more “toxic.”

When Ashton Pittman, an award-winning news editor and reporter, first joined the app Bluesky, he said he was the only Mississippi journalist he knew of using it. That was the case until about five weeks ago, he said. But now, Pittman said, there are at least 15 Mississippi journalists on Bluesky as it becomes a preferred platform for reporters, writers, activists and other groups that have become increasingly alienated from X.

Pittman’s affiliate, the Mississippi Free Press, already has more followers on Bluesky (28,500) than ever on X (22,000), the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Pittman said audience engagement on Bluesky is booming.

“We have posts that are exactly the same on Twitter and on Bluesky, and with those identical posts, Bluesky gets 20x or more engagement than Twitter,” Pittman said. “When you see a social media platform that doesn’t throttle links, it becomes clear how severely we have been restricted.”

Since Elon Musk bought Twitter, the platform has become increasingly difficult for journalists, and many suspected that the platform had begun suppressing the reach of posts that contain links to external websites. On Sunday, Musk confirmed that the platform has demoted posts with links, which has historically been the way journalists and other YouTubers shared their work. But four journalists told NBC News that after the election, after millions of users migrated to Bluesky, an alternative that resembles a stripped-down version of X, they are rebuilding their audience there too.

“My average post that isn’t a hot button issue or not trending could be on and almost 300,000 on Bluesky. “Judging by retweets, likes and comments, that’s a world of difference.”

Platform and audience editors at The Guardian and The Boston Globe have publicly noted that Bluesky drives higher traffic to their news sites than competitors like Threads, Meta’s X alternative. Citing the Guardian’s statistics, Rose Wang, Bluesky’s chief operating officer, wrote: “We want Bluesky to be a great home for journalists, publishers and creators.” Unlike other platforms, we don’t remove your links from advertising. Publish any links you want – Bluesky is a lobby for the open web.”

Bluesky was originally developed as part of an initiative funded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who cut ties with the company in May, and was opened to the public last year as an invitation-only platform. The first users included black, transgender and politically progressive people. Journalists who belong to marginalized communities and report on issues that affect them find Bluesky a much more welcoming environment.

“I think Bluesky’s target audience is literally just anyone who can’t stand the toxic environment that Twitter has become, and that includes a wide range of people,” said Erin Reed, an independent journalist , which reports on trans rights issues on Substack. “Journalists don’t like toxicity and toxic comments. We want to have a conversation with people and not have everything turn into insults being thrown back and forth.”

Numerous studies and analyzes have shown that the use of hate speech increased after Musk took over the platform. Over time, the platform developed into a bastion of the right-wing Internet.

Reed also said traffic to her Substack articles has doubled since she began posting exclusively on Bluesky. She and Talia Lavin, a journalist and author who covers the far right, said X has been inundated by anti-trans speech as well as other forms of bigotry and harassment. Lavin said she has noticed a rise in anti-Semitism and pro-Nazi accounts on X, as has Pittman.

In April, NBC News noted that on

“If I can’t get consistent views to my newsletter on Twitter, then why am I here?” Lavin said of her decision to move to Bluesky. “All the answers were AI bots and Nazis, and none of the seriously engaged readers see my content. So what was the point of exposing myself to psychological harm?

“It feels good to have some kind of space where I can say, ‘Here’s my newsletter, here’s my book,’ and you can at least see the work that I’m writing, as opposed to a billionaire being active “The press is in charge and they don’t want anyone to see your work,” Lavin continued. “I don’t know if it means a whole new hope for journalism, but it’s nice to have a platform where you’re not actively oppressed.”

Although journalists and authors are now able to reach an engaged and paying audience on Bluesky, they are not the only ones. Aaron Kleinman, research director for the States Project, a state legislative campaign group, said in a post that the group’s “Give Smart” fundraiser raised more money on Bluesky in 2023 than on X, even when the number of followers was much lower. “Twitter is designed to be a fundraising platform,” Kleinman wrote.

Lavin and Pittman also said that Bluesky’s audience is drawn to a more diverse range of topics and stories, both political and non-political. Pittman said he gets tips and story ideas on the platform, while Reed said it reaches readers who are learning about the topics she covers for the first time.

“People always say, ‘The news is too negative.’ So why aren’t people clicking, retweeting, and sharing our more positive stories? I think the answer Bluesky gives us is that it was the algorithms,” Pittman said. “On Twitter you would see two likes for a positive story that gets dozens of likes and shares on Bluesky.”