Reporters swarm Bluesky as X continues to become more ‘harmful’

Ashton Pittman, an award-winning news editor and reporter, joined the app Bluesky as one of the few Mississippi journalists using the platform. Since then, the number of Mississippi journalists on Bluesky has grown to at least 15, surpassing the audience engagement on Twitter. Journalists, writers, and activists have been increasingly alienated by Twitter under Elon Musk’s ownership, leading them to migrate to Bluesky. Bluesky, unlike Twitter, does not throttle links, allowing for more engagement and traffic to external websites. Journalists have found Bluesky to be a more welcoming environment with diverse topics and a lack of hate speech compared to Twitter, which has become dominated by right-wing content and toxic comments. Some journalists have reported doubling their traffic by posting exclusively on Bluesky, rather than dealing with harassment and toxic comments on Twitter. Additionally, fundraising efforts and audience engagement have been more successful on Bluesky compared to Twitter, which has led to a shift in focus for many creators and organizations. Overall, Bluesky is becoming a preferred platform for journalists, writers, activists, and other groups seeking a more positive and engaging online environment.

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