Bluesky says it has hauled in more than 13 million users, up from about three million when it opened to the public in February 2024. Word of user grow

Bluesky capitalizes on X woes with funding and user growth

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2024-11-11 20:00:05

Bluesky says it has hauled in more than 13 million users, up from about three million when it opened to the public in February 2024.

Word of user growth came late last week, accompanied $15 million in financing. This should help keep the lights on while the nascent social media network, which appears to have disavowed advertising, develops a subscription-based business model "for features like higher quality video uploads or profile customizations like colors and avatar frames."

The Bluesky team offered reassurance that the basic service will remain free to use, wrapped in what might be taken as a jab at more fee-focused social media firms.

"Bluesky will always be free to use — we believe that information and conversation should be easily accessible, not locked down," the biz said. "We won’t uprank accounts simply because they’re subscribing to a paid tier."

Rival social media service X, known as Twitter until it was bought in 2022 by a wealthy immigrant from South Africa who reportedly promotes anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, prioritizes content from paying subscribers. The biz had about 251 million global daily active users during calendar Q2, according to The Financial Times.