Why some social media users are leaving Elon Musk's X for rival platform Bluesky

Bluesky had about 6 million users in August. But since the Nov. 5 election, the new social media platform's popularity has exploded and the site now boasts some 20 million users.

And many of the new users on Bluesky include celebrities, Democrats, and left-leaning voices who've come from X, formerly known as Twitter, as a form of protest against the platform and its owner Elon musk.

"His buyout of Twitter plus the election, plus Elon Musk's friendship with Donald Trump -- all of the sudden people want to make a statement and said, 'that's not the place for me, I want to be away from that place and those people,'" USC Annenberg digital social media Professor Karen North said in an interview with ABC7. "So they found a place to go."

Actress Gabrielle Union re-posted LeVar Burton on Bluesky saying the "water is warm over here!! Welcome." Barbara Streisand posted "effective immediately, any comments I post will be on Bluesky." And actress comedian Quinta Brunson said she's still not sure she wants "to use social media much anymore. but it seems nice here."

Bluesky was founded by the creators of Twitter back in 2019.

"What you can do overtly on Bluesky is you can decide 'this is what I want to hear about' and 'this is what I want to talk about," ," said North. And you can select 'all I want to do is hear about this perspective on politics, or no politics at all.'"

North describes Bluesky as a decentralized platform that may seem like a friendlier alternative to X, adding that users risk missing other news and differing opinions. The same thing could eventually happen on X if those on the left continue to leave.

"The more people that leave, the more complicated it will be for the news to find information from the viewpoint of the people leaving," said North. "It's kind of like the people who say they're going to leave the country for four years. my question is, are you also not going to vote?"

North believes people who disagree with X need to remain on X so that they can continue to have an impact on what is it and how it's shared.