Bluesky, a new rival to Elon Musk’s X platform, has seen over one million new users since it opened yesterday.
It takes the total tally of users for the new social media app to four million after it has been in an invite-only beta testing stage for a year.
A post by the site’s own account read: “One million new users since we opened Bluesky yesterday! Welcome to Bluesky!!! 🎉”
On the app, the timeline is called the “skyline” and posts are “skeets”.
Visually, it looks similar to the platform formerly known as Twitter with a blue butterfly silhouette instead of X’s old bird logo.
But it differs by allowing users to choose their own algorithms and better control the content they see.
In contrast to the likes of Facebook and X, Bluesky offers 25,000+ custom feeds which focus on whatever topics or conversations users pick.
“We made Bluesky so users can easily discover interesting content from a vibrant network of communities,” said Jay Graber, chief executive of Bluesky.
“During our beta period we used an invite system to manage growth while building out our infrastructure, and were happy to see people start creating their own community on Bluesky. Now, we’re welcoming everyone in,” he added.
Originally a Twitter spinout, Bluesky is the result of co-founder Jack Dorsey’s vision for a decentralised social network platform, meaning users have more control over their data and interactions.
During Bluesky’s year of testing, there was high demand for coveted invite codes to join the app ahead of its public opening, with a number of people reportedly flogging theirs on Ebay for up to $400.
Bluesky is the latest in a line of challengers to X’s crown. Mastodon and Meta’s Threads have also attempted to dethrone Musk’s platform over the past year.