This month has seen a startling proliferation in interest among social media users in the Bluesky platform.

As of 18 November, Bluesky had 19m users, one million more than the previous day and double its figures for early September.

This growth has been exacerbated amid concerns raised by users of X, following Elon Musk’s take over of the platform and Donald Trump’s election victory in the US.

This saw the President-elect hand a seat in government to Musk, whose reign over the platform, which was formerly known as Twitter, has been marred by controversy over misinformation, increase in bots, and an algorithm that appears to favours controversy and right wing views.

Already a number of charities and charity leaders have quit X and this month has seen many of those, as well as those still with an account on Musk’s platform, set up a Bluesky account.

Clearly with many news sites already setting up accounts too, Bluesky has within a few short weeks become an important channel for charities as they look to promote their work as well as discuss sector wide issues with each other.

Here we look at some of the charity sector figures who have signed up to Bluesky as well as detail what this new social media platform is and why it is proving so popular.

Charities turning to Bluesky

Charity leaders already signing up to Bluesky include ACEVO’’s chief executive Jane Ide, who is among early adopters. She created an account three months ago, at the same time as the charity sector body quit X, as “it is no longer aligned with our values of inclusivity and honesty”.

Others to sign up include YoungMinds chief executive Laura Bunt and former Unicef chief executive David Bull, who is now a consultant in the sector.

Children’s society executive director Joe Jenkins, Carers Trust policy and practice manager Andy McGowan and Amnesty International UK’s policy and research head Naomi McAuliffe are among others.

One of the most active and useful charity sector contacts using Bluesky is Gemma Abbott, legal director at the Howard League.

She has created a series of ‘starter packs’ which list users with a particular interest. She has created three starter packs, for charity and charities contacts, as well as one for criminal justice contacts.

Determined to spend a bit less time on Bluesky today! 😆

So here is a #StarterPack plug before I log off:

#Charity folks: Pack 1 go.bsky.app/7dPWqWQ

#Charities folk: Pack 2: go.bsky.app/QWpFmRe

#CriminalJustice: go.bsky.app/2sQ9xmz

As ever, pls do share & lmk if you’d like to be added 😊

[image or embed]

— Gemma Abbott (@gemabbott.bsky.social) November 16, 2024 at 9:41 AM

Meanwhile, charities that have set up an account on Bluesky include the National Children’s Bureau, SeeAbility, Vagina Museum, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and Child Poverty Action Group.

Charity Times has also set up a Bluesky account to discuss the sector and post links about our articles. Please do follow us here if you have signed up to the platform.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky is similar to X and Twitter in its interface. Users can post, reply and message each other.

Its similarity to Twitter is no coincidence as it was originally set up as a project inside Twitter pre-Musk to create an open and decentralised social media platform. It is now an independent company.

The key differences to X are a strong focus on moderation, to give users greater say in the posts they see and the users they can block. This is why the site appeals to those used to an often more abusive tone from X’s users.

Its algorithm is also designed to drive people to what they want to see by creating custom feeds. This also appeals to those used to X’s algorithm where often posts are not seen amid a glut of drop-shipping adverts, posts from Musk himself and other right-wing commentators.

The X-odus

Acevo is not the only high-profile organisation in the charity sector to quit X after Musk took over the platform.

Others include the Race Equality Foundation in August, after disinformation was posted following unrest in Southport and the North of England at the time.

“Despite numerous complaints about racist, Islamophobic, and other discriminatory content, the platform has failed to take adequate action," the Foundation said.

Another was Colchester and Ipswich Hospitals Charity which announced this summer that “we've taken the decision to no longer use this platform to share updates”.

And last year transgender support charity Mermaids left X as the platform “no longer supports” its aim “to embrace and empower trans young people and their families and educate the wider public on the issues they face”.

It added: “For some time now, it has been clear that our values as an organisation are at odds with X, as the platform’s guidelines and company ethics do not encourage a safe, healthy or inclusive environment for our community to engage with us in.”

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