Twitter exodus begins as rival app Bluesky sees record signups after Elon Musk threatens to start charging people to use X

It’s been two months since Mark Zuckerberg launched Threads, his so-called “Twitter killer” app, which saw more than 100 million users join in less than five days before plummeting in popularity.

But it now appears another rival app, Bluesky, could be one to watch for X owner Elon Musk after the platform racked up a record wave of signups following the billionaire’s threat to start charge users of its own social networking site. .

The figures, collected by BlueskyStatssuggest that more than 53,500 users flocked to its app in the last 24 hours, about 40,000 above average.

However, the site’s total number of users – estimated at around 1.1 million – still pales in comparison to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Musk revealed that his social media giant currently has around 550 million monthly users, despite a series of drastic changes since its takeover last year. including the monetization of its blue checkmark verification system.

Confident: However, Musk revealed that his social media giant currently has around 550 million monthly users despite a series of drastic changes since its takeover last year.

There was more controversy and uproar yesterday, when the tech billionaire revealed he was considering charging all users to access the platform in an effort to fend off bots or automated accounts.

Jake Moore, cybersecurity expert at ESET, told MailOnline that Bluesky’s growing popularity was both “inevitable” and “predictable”.

“Since it emerged that users could be charged to use (X), the inevitable and rather predictable has happened with record signups for the Twitter/X alternative,” he said.

“The battle for the next Twitter has already started with a few in the ring like Threads and Mastadon as well.

“However, the real test of time will be to see which platform will get the majority of users to take on the next generation of social networks.”

Bluesky, which launched on Android and iOS earlier this year, is backed by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jake Dorsey.

This is a rare example of an invite-only social media app, with pre-existing users able to distribute invite codes to anyone interested in joining.

A waiting list is also offered to those who don’t know anyone on Bluesky, with generated codes sent by email.

Moore added: “Bluesky offers a registration process for anyone with an invite code generated by those already on the platform.

“This little feature cleverly keeps bots at bay as they struggle to automate mass signups, which can lead to security and misinformation issues.”

The invite-only component also sets Bluesky apart from X, as fake news and bots have been a major concern for Musk in recent months.

Threat: New figures suggest more than 53,500 users flocked to Bluesky yesterday alone.

This was revealed yesterday during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the tech entrepreneur announced his plans for future charges.

“I would say the most important reason why we are moving towards a small monthly payment for using System .

“A robot costs a fraction of a cent, but if someone has to pay a few dollars or something like that… you have to use a new payment method every time you get a new robot.

“By prioritizing posts written by premium X subscribers, we will actually offer a lower pricing tier. We want it to be a small amount of money.

“It’s a longer discussion, but in my opinion it’s the only defense against vast armies of robots.” As AI becomes truly proficient, it performs better than humans on captcha tests.

Although Bluesky users can share images and follow accounts, they cannot send direct messages or post videos like X users.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg is looking to introduce direct messaging to Threads in the not-so-distant future.

Threads’ popularity also exploded after its July 6 launch, amassing more than 100 million users by day five.

But data from last month suggests that that initial popularity has waned somewhat since then, with analysts at Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) saying the number of daily users has fallen to just 430,000 in the UK.

However, following Musk’s latest comments about charging X users, Mr. Moore believes that Threads could make a big comeback.

“Bots have been a problem on the platform since the beginning, but when Musk laid off a large number of employees, including security personnel, the problem grew to a rather uncontrollable scale,” he added.

“Requiring payment from all users could potentially alleviate this problem, but it could have a bigger problem on its hands with a mass exodus of users.

“With many similar alternatives already in place, such as Threads and Mastadon, this could be the last push for some users to move to the competition.”

MailOnline has contacted X for comment.