A few days ago, the New York Times added Bluesky to their social sharing widget at the top of their articles next to other social sites like Facebook and X. This makes it seem that news outlets are loving Bluesky amidst not getting good responses from other social media platforms in terms of referral traffic or social exposure. Even though the New York Times added Bluseky among its social sharing widget, Threads didn't get the same treatment even though it is the rival of X. The reason why many news outlets are favoring Bluesky is because its traffic skyrocketed after the elections in the US. According to estimates by Similarweb, X has 33 times more traffic than Bluesky but X doesn't give as much traffic back to the New York Times website. But on the other hand, Bluesky suggests that it would like to work with publishers.
In November 2024, Bluesky celebrated the increase in its engagements and shared quotes from digital leaders like The Guardian, The Boston Globe and The New York Times and those websites saw a large increase in their referrals from Bluesky. Bluesky also announced that they welcome publishers on its platform and they do not demote links. Bluesky was responsible for 1.5 million referral visits to the New York Times website in November, which is three times more referral traffic than threads.
Bluesky also grew 189% month-over-month, while X declined to -3.6% month-over-month traffic in November in the US. Bluesky’s traffic also increased by 75% all over the world, while X’s traffic worldwide declined by 2.3%. The monthly active users of Bluesky app on iOS and Android increased by 295.4% while X’s monthly users increased by 2.4% only.
But even though Bluesky is gaining users, it still has way less base than X but a little higher base than Threads. Bluesky is also slowly catching up to Threads in worldwide traffic, with daily app usage of Bluesky increasing in the US in the past month. Even though Bluesky was gaining momentum in November, it seems that the platform is slowly declining in its app engagement and web traffic now. The future of Bluesky is still unclear but if media outlets are loving the platform, it seems like that the app will see some growth in 2025 too.
Read next: Users Unmoved by AI Features in Smartphones, Survey Uncovers Surprising Truth
In November 2024, Bluesky celebrated the increase in its engagements and shared quotes from digital leaders like The Guardian, The Boston Globe and The New York Times and those websites saw a large increase in their referrals from Bluesky. Bluesky also announced that they welcome publishers on its platform and they do not demote links. Bluesky was responsible for 1.5 million referral visits to the New York Times website in November, which is three times more referral traffic than threads.
Bluesky also grew 189% month-over-month, while X declined to -3.6% month-over-month traffic in November in the US. Bluesky’s traffic also increased by 75% all over the world, while X’s traffic worldwide declined by 2.3%. The monthly active users of Bluesky app on iOS and Android increased by 295.4% while X’s monthly users increased by 2.4% only.
But even though Bluesky is gaining users, it still has way less base than X but a little higher base than Threads. Bluesky is also slowly catching up to Threads in worldwide traffic, with daily app usage of Bluesky increasing in the US in the past month. Even though Bluesky was gaining momentum in November, it seems that the platform is slowly declining in its app engagement and web traffic now. The future of Bluesky is still unclear but if media outlets are loving the platform, it seems like that the app will see some growth in 2025 too.
Read next: Users Unmoved by AI Features in Smartphones, Survey Uncovers Surprising Truth
