Social media platform Bluesky reached 25 million users, continuing its growth after the election as some people look for alternatives to X. The desire to leave Elon Musk’s X platform seems to have regained steam since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and Musk getting a leadership role in his administration.
Even though Bluesky increased its users by around 10 million since Election Day, it’s still catching up to X’s 600 million monthly users and the 275 million monthly users on Meta’s Threads app.
However, according to market intelligence firm Similarweb, Bluesky could catch up to Threads in time if its current rate of growth holds up.
One question remains though: how is the company going to make money if it stays ad-free?
Point phone camera here
Bluesky CEO Jay Graber has said she doesn’t want a bunch of ads taking over the platform to instead focus on the user experience, but tells TechCrunch, she isn’t ruling ads out all together.
“I think the ways we would explore advertising, if we did, would be much more user intent-driven,” Graber said. “We want to keep our incentives aligned with users and make sure that we’re not turning into a model where the user’s attention is the product.”
Graber said the company has raised $15 million so far with other investors also taking interest.
Bluesky mentioned a few other potential revenue streams including subscriptions, a marketplace of algorithms, and selling domain names.
Graber is ruling out AI licensing since the company already vowed to not train AI on Bluesky posts.
[Karah]
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM BLUESKY NOW HAS 25 MILLION USERS … CONTINUING ITS GROWTH AFTER THE ELECTION – WITH SOME PEOPLE LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVES TO X.
THE DESIRE TO LEAVE ELON MUSK’S X PLATFORM SEEMS TO HAVE REGAINED STEAM SINCE DONALD TRUMP’S P VICTORY … AND MUSK GETTING A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN HIS ADMINISTRATION.
EVEN THOUGH BLUESKY INCREASED ITS USERS BY AROUND 10 MILLION SINCE ELECTION DAY … IT’S STILL CATCHING UP TO X’S 600 MILLION MONTHLY USERS AND THE 275 MILLION MONTHLY USERS ON META’S THREADS APP.
HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO MARKET INTELLIGENCE FIRM SIMILARWEB … BLUESKY COULD CATCH UP TO THREADS IN TIME IF ITS CURRENT RATE OF GROWTH HOLDS UP.
ONE QUESTION REMAINS THOUGH – HOW IS THE COMPANY GOING TO MAKE MONEY IF IT STAYS AD-FREE?
BLUESKY CEO JAY GRABER HAS SAID SHE DOESN’T WANT A BUNCH OF ADS TAKING OVER THE PLATFORM TO INSTEAD FOCUS ON THE USER EXPERIENCE, BUT TELLS TECH-CRUNCH … SHE ISN’T RULING ADS OUT ALL TOGETHER.
“I think the ways we would explore advertising, if we did, would be much more user intent-driven … We want to keep our incentives aligned with users and make sure that we’re not turning into a model where the user’s attention is the product.”
GRABER SAYS THE COMPANY HAS RAISED 15 MILLION DOLLARS SO FAR WITH OTHER INVESTORS ALSO TAKING INTEREST.
BLUESKY MENTIONED A FEW OTHER POTENTIAL REVENUE STREAMS – INCLUDING SUBSCRIPTIONS, A MARKETPLACE OF ALGORITHMS, AND SELLING DOMAIN NAMES.
ONE OPTION GRABER IS RULING OUT?
A-I LICENSING … SINCE THE COMPANY ALREADY VOWED TO NOT TRAIN A-I ON BLUESKY POSTS.
FOR SAN – I’M KARAH RUCKER.
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