Bluesky should pivot towards its left-of-centre values to compete with Elon Musk’s X, a marketing expert said.
Tesla billionaire Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and has since allowed far-right personalities such as Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate to return to the site.
UK MPs have since summoned him to testify about X’s role in UK riots after false claims about the Southport killer were allowed to spread without consequence on the platform.
Users have flocked to rival platform Bluesky in the wake of the uprising and the US election, which saw Donald Trump sweep to power.
Marketing expert Toni Marino explains the site’s meteoric rise, and whether he believes it can be sustained:
“The spike in interest in Bluesky arrived after Donald Trump’s re-election to the White House at the start of November. Harris voters wanted a platform that would allow them to connect with other left-leaning users and escape what they see as a right-wing, Musk-led takeover of Twitter.”
“However, we need to put Bluesky’s rise in context. While the platform is growing, it is still small fry compared to Twitter. US searches for the service are around 10 percent of those for Twitter in most states, even during the last election month, meaning Bluesky still has a long way to go if it wants to compete. Twitter has an established user base and an audience who know and love the platform. It is difficult to imagine a usurper replacing it outright because it is so embedded in the culture.”
“If Bluesky is to compete with Twitter, it will need to differentiate itself somehow. Donald Trump’s Truth Social did this by leaning more into right-wing politics and free speech when the previous left-wing Twitter management censored conservative voices on the platform. Bluesky could do the same–providing an outlet for left-wing views.”
“Bluesky could also do what Snapchat did to Instagram by adding new and innovative features. When Snapchat launched Stories, Instagram was forced to respond. You could see something similar playing out here.”
“If Bluesky is to succeed, it will need to find a way to monetize its content, something Twitter finds a struggle to this day. Options include in-feed ads and perhaps banners, but these are low-revenue and may hamper growth.”
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