For scientists the network is starting to look like home. Academic institutions, scientific journals and conferences, and international organizations such as the World Health Organization have established a presence there in recent days. The platform has become so popular that on Monday, Altmetric, a company that tracks where published research is mentioned online, urged publishers to implement a “share to Bluesky” button like those to share content to Facebook, X, or LinkedIn that many websites feature. Many researchers say the atmosphere on Bluesky so far is less polarized than on X, partly because there is more content moderation and the user base is, for now, much smaller and more homogenous.

Bluesky started as a research project at Twitter, but after Musk’s takeover it severed all ties with the company and launched as a social app in February 2023. At first, it could only be joined by invitation and growth was slow. When it opened to the public this February, Bluesky had 3 million users. But by 5 November, the day of the U.S. elections, the platform had nearly 14 million users. Two weeks later it has passed 20 million. (X has more than 500 million.)