Social media users dump X for Bluesky - but wetin e be and who get am?

You fit don dey see di word "Bluesky" dey pop up on your social media pages recently and dey wonder wetin pipo dey tok about.

Bluesky na alternative platform to Elon Musk X and in terms of colour and logo, dem look di same.

Bluesky dey grow very fast and e currently dey pick up around one million new sign-ups a day.

E don get 16.7m users at di time dis report dey published, but dat figure go likely be outdated by di time you dey read dis.

So wetin e be - and why so many pipo dey join?

Wetin be Bluesky?

Bluesky don describe imsef as "social media as e suppose be", although e look similar to oda sites.

Visually, one bar to di left of di page show evri tin you fit expect - search, notifications, homepage and so on.

Pipo wey dey use di platform fit post, comment, repost and like dia favourite tins.

Di app resemble Twitter. E look exactly like Twitter bifor e turn X.

Di main difference be say Bluesky dey decentralised - a complicated term wey basically mean users fit host dia data on servers oda dan di ones wey di company get.

Dis one mean say rather dan make e dey limited to having a specific account wey dem name afta Bluesky, pipo fit (if dem like) sign up using account wey na dem get am.

But e worth to say di high majority of pipo no dey do like day and a new joiner go most likely get a ".bsky.social" at di end of dia username.

Who get Bluesky?

If you think e look so much like X, you no go dey surprised to know why. Di former head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, na im cerate am.

E bin tok one time say, im want Bluesky to be a decentralised version of Twitter wey no single pesin or entity go own.

But Oga Dorsey no dey part of di team wey dey behind am again, afta e step down from di board for May 2024.

E delete im account altogeda for September.

Na chief executive Jay Graber get and dey run am now as a US public benefit corporation.

Why e dey gain popularity?

Bluesky don dey around since 2019, but na invitation-only until February dis year.

Dat one bin let di developers deal wit all di links behind-the-scenes, to try and stabilise am bifor dem open doors to di wider public.

Di plan work, but di number of new users go high for November wey make issues dey wit di site.

No be coincidence say di number of new Bluesky users bin increase afta Donald Trump success for di US elections for November.

Di owner of X, Mr Musk, na big supporter of Trump during im campaign, and e go dey heavily involved for im administration.

Dis don lead to some political division, as some pipo don vex leave X in protest.

But odas don give different reasons, like di Guardian newspaper wey don choose to stop dey post dia as dem call X "a toxic media platform".

Meanwhile, Bluesky app don kontinu to pick up good number of downloads worldwide and on Thursday, na di top free app for di Apple App Store for UK.

Several celebrities, from pop singer Lizzo to Taskmaster Greg Davies, don announce say dem go join di platform and reduce dia use of - or in some cases dem go leave - X.

Oda names you fit recognise include Ben Stiller, Jamie Lee Curtis and Patton Oswalt.

But dis growth, while significant, go gatz kontinu for a long time bifor Bluesky go fit mount true challenge to im microblogging rival.

X no dey share di total user numbers of pipo wey dey use am, but e dey understood say dem many, and Elon Musk bin tok one time say di platform get 250 million users each day.

How Bluesky dey make money?

Dis na di million dollar question, pipo dey ask.

Bluesky bin start off wit funding from investors and venture capital firms and dem don raise tens of millions of dollars through these means.

But wit so many new users, dem gatz find way to pay di bills.

Back den wen Twitter dey shine, di site make most of im money through advertising.

Bluesky tok say dem wan avoid dis. Instead, dem say dem go kontinu to look into paid services, like having people pay for custom domains for dia username.

E sound difficult but basically e come down to make pesin personalise im username.

Pipo wey propose dis idea say e go double-up as a form of verification as di organisation wey get di website go have to clear di use.

If Bluesky owners kontinu to avoid advertising, dem fit later look to oda broader options, like subscription features, as way of keeping di lights on.

But if e no dey make plenty money, dat no go dey unusual for tech startups.

In fact, Twitter, bifor Musk buy am for 2022, bin only make profit twice for dia eight years of being publicly traded.

And all of us know how e end - a massive payday for investors wen di world richest man pay $44bn (£34.7bn) to buy am.

For now, di future of Bluesky neva dey clear, but if e continue to grow, anytin dey possible.