The reason is Elon Musk’s decision to weaken the user block feature.

The platform X (formerly Twitter) lost half a million users in one single day – 17 October 2024 – following a decision by its owner Elon Musk to let users of blocked accounts see the content without being able to like, reply, or repost tweets from public accounts that blocked them.

Under the new changes, blocking someone no longer stops them from viewing your posts or profile, stripping users of a crucial tool to shield themselves from abuse and rendering the block function virtually useless, potentially inviting more harassment on the platform.

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X fact-checking bot reports Elon Musk for lying, literally

BlueSky, a rival social media platform founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, said on Thursday that early in the day it welcomed more than 100,000 new users who had abandoned X following the announcement of Musk’s decision.

Within just 12 hours, that number surged to half a million, and the momentum shows no signs of slowing. The influx was so intense that BlueSky temporarily went offline due to the overwhelming traffic.

BlueSky wasted no time in capitalizing on Musk’s misstep, tweeting, “At Bluesky, we take online safety seriously. If you want to block someone, you can!”

This isn’t the first time X/Twitter has seen an exodus of users under Musk’s leadership. A similar wave occurred when BlueSky was launched on Apple and Android platforms last year.

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Brazil threatens to shut down X in a standoff between Elon Musk and a Supreme Court judge

X's user base has been steadily declining since Musk’s takeover. One of the most significant moments came when Musk’s refusal to comply with a Brazilian court order led to a temporary ban on X in Brazil. This resulted in over three million Brazilians flocking to BlueSky within days.

According to the data analytics portal ExplodingTopics, X had 600 million monthly active users in 2024 while Statista credits X with over 610,000 users.

BlueSky, on the other hand, grew to 9 million active users per month as of early September. 85% of them are believed to be Brazilians.

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