67 Comments » - TJ - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 8:45 am: Yeah, I moved over to BlueSky the day after the election. Straw the broke the camel’s back for me. The number of accounts there is growing, albeit more than a few are mirrors that just “retweet” what they posted on their main account on Twitter. I do feel like my mental sanity has recovered a bit merely by just not doomscrolling on that old site. I need to go back and scrub everything previously posted on the old account before shutting it down for good. I might have one picture of my son out there, but borderline everything else is just retweets of memes and breaking sports news. - Out Here In The Middle - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 8:49 am: I spent some time yesterday afternoon exploring Bluesky and following various accounts that I followed on Twitter. Everyone is not there but I think I’m good. Thanks for the list of Illinois reporters - that was critical. Also, this post on The Verge was very helpful for me: https://www.theverge.com/24295933/bluesky-social-network-custom-how-to - Occasionally Moderated - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 8:54 am: Have joined the exodus. Also in need of follows. Thanks for the starter pack, I hit “follow all”. I loved Twitter. I enjoy espionage and geopolitical stories, there was nowhere better to get the heads up that something is cooking before you see it in major media. I can’t take the ugly stuff though. I hate new platforms. I have a couple of substack follows and I can’t figure out the app, have to use the web based content. - Dance Band on the Titanic - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:03 am: Starter packs have made the transition much easier. Thanks for the Illinois lists. Only downside is Bluesky is still pretty devoid of the sports reporters I follow on Twitter. - Leap Day William - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:04 am: I jumped ship to Bluesky a long time ago (apparently I’m in the first 10% of adoptees), but kept the Twitter going right up until the election, but I can’t handle that environment. The nuclear block coupled with well-curated lists is far and away the best feature to maintain sanity. For those looking to make the jump and want to delete your old Twitter content, the steps I found here did an amazing job of nuking all of my profiles: https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitter/comments/16×8obf/tutorial_how_to_delete_all_your_tweets_for_free/ It’s a little technical and took a couple of days for the download of your old archive, but it’s all gone for good. I’m not deleting the old account, though. Leaving it up but barren of content so nobody can squat on it. Not that I’m a commodity that people would care about, but I’d rather not have a botfarm claim a name I used for years and turn it into a crypto/feet pic distributor. - Dan Johnson - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:05 am: I deactivated my account on X too. It was too much. - Terry Salad - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:07 am: I’ve joined the Exodus and plan to delete Twitter when the transition is complete. My “For You” feed on Twitter has become a cesspool of rightwing kooks. - Nick Name - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:12 am: Opened a Bluesky account on Friday. Life is so much better. Just followed you, Rich. - Dirty Red - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:18 am: See you there. - Fisher - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:24 am: Not leaving Twitter yet, but yes, it’s pretty terrible and I could easily leave it with a solid alternative. A real shame. Just signed up for Bluesky and will give it a try. CapitolFax first follow. - SkepticalHippo - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:24 am: X has hit all-time daily traffic volumes in the last few weeks. If that’s an “exodus” I don’t understand the definition of the word. You citing a handful of people as evidence of a possible sea change against verifiable data is quite interesting. - dtownresident - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:24 am: Where the twitter changes have really bothered me is this. About two/three weeks ago perhaps because the bots/trolls needed something other than the election they started showing up on sports reports / sports teams accounts just trashing any little thing like oops the Blues gave up a goal. The Illini scored a touchdown…fire the other coach. It is nasty and sometimes includes uncensored profanity. Some sports teams like the bears are hard enough to check on without the extra noise. - dtownresident - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:25 am: I have aslo started following what I can on Bluesky and the tone is better. Not a 2000 AOL chatroom quality. - Homebody - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:25 am: I don’t use twitter for much besides following some local reporters, a few sports writers, and a bunch of people who are specialists in my field. Luckily that means I’m not seeing most of the “worst” behavior that is going unchecked, so I haven’t felt the need to jump ship. But I have noticed more and more of the people I *do* follow are leaving. That is what is making me make the switch. - Give Me A Break - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:34 am: Joined Blue Sky months ago but recently became more active. Still on the bird but primarily for Illini sports information. - Benniefly2 - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:39 am: I made my twitter account private, deleted the app, and walked away from it in the fall of 2023. I don’t miss it in the slightest. The way the block function works on BlueSky makes the place infinitely more pleasant to use than X. - stateandlake - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:40 am: I have not checked out BlueSky yet. I am going to give it a try. But I have been active on Threads for some time. Very happy with the quality and variety of folks who post there. Still on X for breaking news. - Benjamin - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:41 am: @SkepticalHippo: that’s probably been goosed by election-related news. I haven’t found a definitive source, but reports from earlier this year suggest a slow decline in number of users and time spent on the platform. - dtownresident - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:42 am: For sports like Illini,B;lues, Bears the bots/trolls that have attacked politics previously seem to have added a lot of noise below updates on sports from fire the coach when a team is down 1-0 or 7-0 depending on sport to just a whole bunch of made up stuff. Makes the twitter stuff not as readable. - Moe Berg - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:42 am: ===X has hit all-time daily traffic volumes in the last few weeks.=== Yup. A network absolutely overrun with bots from the right wing and foreign influence operations saw big volume around the election. Thanks for pointing out exactly why people are leaving. As for me, I’m transitioning over. Any account I followed on Twitter that is also on Bluesky, I’m unfollowing on Twitter. As for the rest, I’m giving them a month to establish a Bluesky presence and if they’d rather throw in with the techno-authoritarians and blatant racism of the owner, than I don’t care to continue following them anyway. It’s become a moral choice. - 47th Ward - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:45 am: I joined Twitter more than 10 years ago. I have never posted or followed anyone. I joined because I thought I’d be using it more, but thankfully never needed to. I don’t feel like I missed out on much, so that’s good. Bonus, I don’t have any “awkward” Tweets to delete or scrub. I can’t miss what I never used. X is a cesspool and I am glad there is an alternative. Hope it puts X out of business someday. - Save Ferris - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:48 am: Had a BlueSky account for a year, but the past week was when I really started using it. Now that the news feeds are there, and there’s a version of the old TweetDeck (deck.blue), there’s very little reason to go to Twitter anymore. And no ads is a HUGE plus. - Navin Johnson - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 9:55 am: Had a Twitter account for many years, but in early 2024 I bailed, too much garbage and don’t like the owner. Got on Threads for a bit and liked it initially due to the interface. But the perverse avoidance of news and politics on that site turned me off and, again, don’t like the owner. Had gotten onto Bluesky earlier in the year and after souring on Threads started using it a few months ago. So far I really like it, better controls to keep trolls to a minimum, interface is easy to use, and since the election many accounts have appeared that I used to follow on Twitter and/or Threads. Hopefully some tech bro doesn’t somehow engineer a takeover and make it useless for my interests or turn it into another playground for right wing trolls. - @misterjayem.bsky.social - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:02 am: I abandoned the bird and relocated to BlueSky way back. I wanted to avoid being subject to their new terms of service so I deactivated my account last week. When Twitter was good, it was really good and when it was fun, it was really fun — but it is no longer good nor fun. – MrJM https://bsky.app/profile/misterjayem.bsky.social - Norseman - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:09 am: I’m fed up with being manipulated by algorithms geared to manipulate me for money and politics. I kept finding new posts from folks I followed in the “For You” category, but not in “Following” category until much later. I feel like I’m see a blue sky rather than a dark cloud. - former southerner - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:09 am: I moved to Bluesky. Staying on X is like choosing to buy a home located next to a garbage dump and surrounded by a moat made from an open sewer. - Frumpy White Guy - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:18 am: Yes - @misterjayem.bsky.social - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:29 am: “If that’s an ‘exodus’ I don’t understand the definition of the word.” Last week, Bluesky crossed the 15 million-user mark, and on 1 million people joined the platform on Thursday alone. If that’s not the definition of an “exodus,” you need a new dictionary. – MrJM https://bsky.app/profile/misterjayem.bsky.social - JoanP - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:30 am: I can’t leave Twitter a/k/a X because I was never on it. - SOIL M - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:36 am: I still haven’t got on Twitter yet. Doubt I will ever catch up. And I am fine with that. - West Sider - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 10:49 am: I left Xiter more than a year ago, limping along on Threads, but have been underwhelmed- especially by local participation. Opened a Bluesky account a week ago. - Glengarry - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:01 am: I was banned permanently from the dark place a couple of years ago. Bluesky is so much better. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:09 am: ===X has hit all-time daily traffic volumes in the last few weeks. === There are so many awful bots on that site the numbers don’t matter. Also, all I care about is Illinois politics. The rest of X and its denizens can continue taking flying leaps at rolling donuts. Also, Musk has been needlessly hostile to third-party apps, rendering his site almost useless for my purposes on this website. If all that somehow hurts your feelings, well, too bad. You don’t need us. We’re leaving. - levivotedforjudy - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:12 am: You are at least the 20th person I know who has created a Blue Sky account in the last week. I’ll probably do a personal one and a work one tomorrow. - SkepticalHippo - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:17 am: MisterJayem Do you think 15 million users is a lot? X had 900 million online yesterday. I’ll make you a bet. $1,000 Bluesky has less than 300 million users this time next year. And Rich, for all the stick you gave Ken when he left the state, It’s mighty pot calling the kettle black accusing me of hurt feelings because I questioned your argument. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:22 am: ===X had 900 million online yesterday=== And how many are bots? And, of the rest, how many are on there to cause trouble merely to make a few bucks? ===Bluesky has less than 300 million users this time next year=== So? If it has enough Illinois peeps to make it useful for me, that’s more than enough. ===for all the stick you gave Ken when he left the state=== LOL Swing and a miss. Also, you’re using two different usernames on this post. That’s a TOS violation. I deleted the other ones that I did not respond to. - HCMcB - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:24 am: If you are aware that a large number of those hundreds of millions “users“ on X are actually bots, while the number of users on blue sky is essentially a real number, it’s fairly impressive. - ChicagoBars - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:26 am: I think I’m in the tiny niche of people who got a better twitter experience over past year as their algorithms finally started keeping out bogus p*rn (is that a banned word here?) accounts and click fraud accounts. Also for work on it I use a lot of lists which to keep tab on news and bar stuff which is a lot more enjoyable interface. I’m over at Bluesky but I feel like this is the third or fourth wave in past two years of “I’m leaving Twitter for eva…” so guess I’ll stick around 90% X and 10% Bluesky for now. - SkepticalHippo - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:27 am: Rich, No one can accurately track bots. As for your accusation: That’s impossible considering I’m using a VPN that cycles every 15 minutes to a different IP. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:28 am: ===That’s impossible considering I’m using a VPN that cycles every 15 minutes to a different IP. === Whatever. - Treefiddy - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:29 am: Haven’t used my professional Twitter/X account in years, the site just became so toxic that it was messing with my mental health. Still have a burner account on X to follow close friends and sports teams/reporters, but BlueSky reminds me a lot of the earlier days of Twitter to the point where I may have to migrate over there as well. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:30 am: ===so guess I’ll stick around 90% X and 10% Bluesky for now. === To be clear, as long as X has the people that I need to follow, I’ll be there. If that means I’m stuck there, so be it. But if this trend continues and workarounds can be done (news media RSS feeds to temp accounts, for instance), then I’m outta there. - Lt Guv - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:32 am: I don’t Twit, X or Sky. Very easy & peaceful. - Excitable Boy - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:38 am: - No one can accurately track bots. - Wasn’t your hero’s main reason for buying Twitter to get rid of them? The site is a joke now, I’ll look up a few people whose content I enjoy once in a while but that’s it. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:43 am: ===main reason for buying Twitter to get rid of them?=== He not only didn’t get rid of them, he empowered and monetized them. - @misterjayem - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:48 am: “No one can accurately track bots.” But we can ignore sycophantic goofs and trolls. – MrJM - ChicagoBars - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:49 am: I know I’m an outlier because the app keeps trying to get me to upgrade (further) to remove all ads and I’m mentally “No way, your ad targeting on me is so bad I’d miss seeing all the misfires”. - TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:53 am: –That’s impossible considering I’m using a VPN– What? Is it 1995? The number of people who still think a VPN is an invincibility shield is kinda hilarious. There are incredibly easy ways to track people online. How do these people think advertisers follow them across devices which have different IPs (phone/laptop/TV/etc). A VPN does almost nothing to prevent tracking if you are unaware of the other available tracking methods being used. We did this stuff back in 2006 when I was doing the backend work for a company which was using some of those now 20-year old tracking methods which even back then made a VPN mostly useless. The newest tracking methods are practically magic in comparison. As to the post, I’m on both platforms and Twitter hasn’t been that bad for me unless I wander out of the people I am following. Every once and awhile I’ll hit the ‘For You’ tab, and it never fails to remind me why I don’t click on that tab. The current ownership of the platform is more concerning to me than the content, and that is plenty enough of a reason to stop using it. Most of the people I follow on Twitter have moved over to Bsky. After a certain number, the number of people on a site is inversely correlated to how useful it is. It happened on Usenet. It happened on Digg. It happened on reddit. It happened on Facebook. Now, it’s happening on Twitter. This is merely the latest iteration of the main concept which led to the coining of the term “Eternal September”. - Northsider - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:55 am: I’m there. - Liz - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:56 am: OK, I just looked up Blue Sky and read about them some. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dm0ljg4y6o No ads = no real way to make money. The rush of new subscribers means a rush of new demands for moderation which will drive up costs. I get that many venture capitalists are willing to make investments which will take many years before there is a profit, but it just doesn’t seem sustainable without ads or subscriptions/paywalls. - Liz - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:57 am: Oh, and my view on twitter is that you can clear out all the clutter by just going to the “following” timeline, and the For You feed is just for entertainment purposes. - Colin O'Scopy - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 11:58 am: I signed up for Threads a while ago and often look at it when Instagram posts a link to content. But as with Threads, if BlueSky doesn’t get the content that I rely on “X” to provide, which isn’t much, to be fair, I don’t see these taking off to the level X has. What I would really like to see is Jon Seidel, Jason Meisner and Hannah Meisel share the Madigan trial updates to Threads. If they shared to BlueSky as well, then I would join that, too. - Grandson of Man - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:00 pm: Recently heard about Bluesky, may join it. Consumers of social media can go to where their values will be met. Thanks for running a great blog, Rich and Isabel. It’s an honor to participate. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:00 pm: ===you can clear out all the clutter by just going to the “following” timeline=== I mainly stick to my “following” timeline. A solution is to just follow more accounts so you don’t need the “for you” timeline. But that site is still toxic. - Excitable Boy - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:07 pm: - just going to the “following” timeline, - Even that feature is messed up for me. I follow several hundred accounts and it will post half a dozen tweets in a row from the same account. - Give Us Barabbas - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:07 pm: I’m reminded of an old Groucho joke line: “calling up the paper to subscribe, so I can cancel it” or something like that. So far I haven’t felt the need for twitter or reddit or any of that. And I think I am healthier for it, mentally. - roart - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:08 pm: I have been on Twitter since it required an invitation and have a user number lower than a million, so I have seen the ups and downs and enjoyed the serendipity and chaos. While I am still checking in, it’s only to observe the spectacle of implosion, and have moved to BlueSky. I knew when FlavorFlav moved to BlueSky that the party was over. - Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:10 pm: ===I have been active on Threads for some time. Very happy with the quality === I haven’t checked it out for a while, but the last time I looked it didn’t have “real time” functionality, which is basically useless for me. - Democrat Grrrl - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:17 pm: I’ve joined BlueSky and am getting ready to disengage from X. Musk has really messed up Twitter, and I am done with it. - Sox Fan - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:29 pm: I’m strictly a lurker on all social media sites. The current state of Twitter is deplorable. I’ve got a bluesky account, but to be honest I’m closer to eliminating social media entirely from my life than adjusting to a new platform. - JS Mill - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:32 pm: I am not on the socials as a matter of morality and principle so I cannot leave one. But, if OW is there, well that is interesting to me. I miss his commentary. =Also, you’re using two different usernames on this post.=. Tells me all I need to know. - Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:34 pm: MrJM gifted me a bluesky invite many moons ago - thanks! I’ll remain on Twitter with a very carefully curated feed for sports purposes until those folks move, but otherwise don’t use it. - Been There - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:47 pm: I was actually thinking of getting on Bluesky this past weekend. Glad I procrastinated. You pretty much listed almost everyone I would want to follow and you made it much easier. Thanks Rich. - btowntruth from forgottonia - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:58 pm: @SkepticalHippo: All time high but a LOT of that is bots and other fake profiles. For a short time some of the bots have went away but over about the last month or so they’ve come back with a vengeance and brought a bunch of bot friends. They haven’t and won’t drive me off completely but I may join bluesky and use Twitter less because of it. - Name Withheld - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 12:58 pm: I created a BlueSky account some time ago, but only recently began actively using it. I really like it. I have gone so far as to purge all of my tweets, likes, and comments from Twitter because I am disgusted with the way in which Twitter is now operated. So take that for what it’s worth. - Leslie D - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 1:00 pm: Deleting your profile means nothing if you didn’t turn off your data sharing. That is their bread & butter. They can’t sell your data but they can broker it or give it away to third parties. Settings & Privacy->Privacy & Safety->Data Sharing & Personalization ->Toggle off Also do not log in within 30 days, it will reactivate your account & delete all keys with passwords. - lake county democrat - Monday, Nov 18, 24 @ 1:20 pm: I’ve been on Bluesky for a while (lakecountydem) but only recently has the site reached enough of a “critical mass” of conversations to make for an interesting feed. Local sports included! Regardles, X is simply toxic now and the tool of an authoratarian billionaire - supporting it now isn’t worth staying to “fight the good fight.” TrackBack URI Uncivil comments, profanity of any kind, rumors and anonymous commenters will not be tolerated and will likely result in banishment. Name/Nickname - Required E-mail - Not required URL - Not required