Consumer demand for the Jack Dorsey-backed Twitter alternative Bluesky is outstripping access, according to the latest App Store data and figures published today by the company. In a new FAQ on Bluesky’s website, the company shares that its community has topped 50,000 users. However, estimates provided to TechCrunch by app intelligence company data.ai indicate the decentralized Twitter clone has seen over 375,000 worldwide installs on iOS as of April 26, 2023, and has been ranking highly on Apple and Google’s app stores’ top charts by downloads.
Excitement for Bluesky has also been climbing in recent weeks, thanks to a combination of exclusivity — the app still requires a hard-to-find invite to get in — and the culture its community is creating. The latter has seen the app embrace what has been described as “early Twitter” energy, thanks in part to the numerous meme accounts and shitposting. This results in a sort of frenetic, chaotic vibe to Bluesky that’s attracting many former Twitter users and particularly those who haven’t quite meshed well with the more serious and structured environment found in the other decentralized Twitter alternative, Mastodon.
But for the time being, Bluesky isn’t capitalizing on the outsized consumer demand for its app.
While other would-be Twitter alternatives like Post and T2 have broadened access to their respective networks, Bluesky invites have become such a hot commodity they’ve been selling for anywhere between $120 to as much as $400 on eBay in recent days.