LOS ANGELES (AP) — Social media site Blue sky has gained 1 million new users in the week since the US election, as some X users look for an alternative platform to post their thoughts and connect with others online.

Bluesky said Wednesday that its total number of users rose to 15 million, up from about 13 million at the end of October.

Championed by former Twitter CEO Jack DorseyBluesky was an invitation-only space until it opened to the public in February. That invite-only period gave the site time to build out moderation tools and other features. The platform resembles Elon Musk’s X, with a “discover” feed and a chronological feed for accounts that users follow. Users can send direct messages and pin messages, as well as find “starter packs” with a curated list of people and custom feeds to follow.

The post-election user surge isn’t the first time Bluesky has benefited from people leaving X. Bluesky gained 2.6 million users the week after X disappeared. banned in Brazil in August – 85% of them come from Brazil, according to the company. About 500,000 new users signed up in one day last month when X flagged this blocked accounts could see a user’s public posts.

Despite Bluesky’s growth, X reported last week that it had “dominated the global conversation about the US elections” and set new records. The platform saw a 15.5% increase in new user signups on Election Day, X said, with a record 942 million posts worldwide. Representatives for Bluesky and X did not respond to requests for comment.

Bluesky has referenced his competitive relationship with X through tongue-in-cheek comments, including an Election Day post on

“I can guarantee that no Bluesky team members will be sitting next to a presidential candidate tonight and giving them direct access to control what you see online,” Bluesky said.

Across the platform, new users – including journalists, left-wing politicians and celebrities – posted and shared memes that they were looking forward to using a space free of ads and hate speech. Some said it reminded them of the early days of X, back when it was Twitter.

On Wednesday, The Guardian said it would no longer post on X, citing “far-right conspiracy theories and racism” on the site. At the same time, television journalist Don Lemon posted on X that he is leaving the platform but will continue to use other social media, including Bluesky.

Lemon said he felt X was no longer a place for “honest debate and discussion.” He noted changes to the site’s terms of service that take effect Friday, namely that lawsuits against X must be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas instead of the Western District of Texas. Musk said in July that he moved X’s headquarters to Texas from San Francisco.

“As the Washington Post recently reported on protect against lawsuits and punish critics. ,” Lemon wrote. “I think that speaks for itself.”

Last year, advertisers such as IBM, NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast fled