How to Get Started on Bluesky

The social media app Bluesky just reached the top of the free download charts for Apple's app store in the United States, making it--for the moment, at least--more popular than Meta's Threads and OpenAI's ChatGPT. The decentralized social media platform has received a fresh influx of users over the last week as more X users sour on Elon Musk's political ambitions and abandon his social media platform for an alternative. Over a million new users have joined Bluesky since the 2024 US presidential election on November 5, which was shaped by Musk's influence. First launched in 2019 as a project within Twitter, Bluesky gained independence from the company before Musk's acquisition and its subsequent name change. Bluesky also captured the attention of some ex-tweeters back in 2023, when new users were only able to sign up through an invite system.