There Was A Spike In Registration In Bluesky In The UK After Musk's Controversy With The Government

Bluesky, experienced a significant spike in registration in the UK (photo: dock. bluexy)

JAKARTA - Bluesky, a relatively new social media platform, has experienced a significant surge in registration in the UK in recent days. This spike comes after Elon Musk's controversial comments about national unrest in the UK sparked many people looking for alternatives other than X (Twitter).

Bluesky reports an increase in public activity by 60% from accounts in the UK, where some members of the British Parliament also recently joined the platform. "During 5 of the last 7 days, Britain has become the country with the highest number of Bluesky registrations," Bluesky said in an emailed statement on Monday, August 11.

Musk has been accused of exacerbating tensions after right-wing unrest sparked by misleading information about the killing of three girls in northern England last month. The Tesla CEO used his platform to share misinformation with millions of followers, including a post suggesting that civil war in the UK was "irresistible." This sparked a reaction from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and called on the government to immediately implement laws governing online content.

Bluesky is one of many apps trying to replace Twitter after Elon Musk took over the company at the end of 2022. In July, Bluesky's monthly number of active users was recorded at around 688,568, far less compared to user base X which reached 76.9 million, according to data from Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company.

Meanwhile, Meta, Facebook's parent company and Instagram, said there had been no update on user growth for its Twitter competitor, Threads, in the UK. Mastodon, a smaller competitor to X, has yet to provide a response to the user's growth details.