Photo credit: Bluesky

Bluesky, a social media platform often described as a friendlier alternative to X, experienced an outage on Thursday amid its rising popularity.

Recently, the app has been the most downloaded on both the US and UK Apple Stores, with many users leaving X (formerly Twitter) following Donald Trump's victory in the US election.

However, on Thursday, users worldwide faced difficulties loading their feeds and notifications.

Bluesky spokesperson Emily Liu explained to the BBC that the issue was due to downtime from one of their internet providers, caused by a fiber cable issue outside of Bluesky’s control.

The outage primarily affected customers using a part of the network between Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, but was mostly resolved by late Thursday.

Following Trump's victory in the US presidential election, Bluesky has seen a significant increase in its user base, with 2.25 million new users signing up in the past week.

Bluesky, founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, operates on independent servers, making it a decentralized platform. Despite its growing user base, Bluesky remains relatively small compared to other social media platforms.

Many new users have joined Bluesky driven by concerns about Elon Musk, who heavily supported Trump's election campaign and intends to remain involved in the new administration.

Cory Johnson, Chief Market Strategist at Epistrophy Capital Research, mentioned that users are leaving X due to concerns about what Twitter has become under Musk.

"People are both disgusted and afraid of Elon Musk and what Twitter has become. Users are fleeing X, and Bluesky and Threads are the beneficiaries,” Johnson told the BBC.

Threads, Meta’s competitor to X, has also continued to expand. Recently, The Guardian announced it would no longer post on X, citing concerns that Musk's influence could shape political discourse.

As the outage unfolded, Bluesky staff tried to make light of the situation, with one developer jokingly suggesting users “grab a soda” and “pet the kitty” while the issue was resolved.

Bluesky’s decentralized nature and user-driven growth highlight its appeal to users seeking an alternative to more traditional social media platforms. As the platform continues to evolve, it aims to offer a different experience from those dominated by centralized control.

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