Bluesky gains users from X after changes to block function

The social media platform Bluesky continues to poach users looking for a new internet haven. After X announced it would change the way blocking worked – allowing the blocked user to still view the posts of the blocker, undermining its purpose – Bluesky reported it had received half a million new signups in one day. When X was temporarily banned in Brazil in September, the rival platform gained three million new signups. Who knows what move X will make next – owner Elon Musk is currently focused on the US election – but it seems Bluesky is the one profiting: in August it announced £35 million in annual revenue. This might be peanuts compared to X’s most recent filing of more than a billion dollars, but perhaps it depends on the audience: X successfully argued that it should not be considered a “gatekeeper” under new EU digital rules, describing itself in a court filing as operating on a “small, decreasing scale.”