Many users are abandoning Elon Musk’s X in favor of the emerging social media platform Bluesky.

The Guardian reported that over 1 million people have joined Bluesky since the U.S. presidential election — a surge in sign-ups as users seek alternatives to X, formerly Twitter, amid growing concerns about misinformation and extremism. Currently, Bluesky reportedly has about 15 million users.

“It feels like a very welcoming, safe space,” Pariss Chandler, organizer of Black Tech Twitter and founder of the recruitment platform Black Tech Pipeline, told NBC News. “I wonder if that’s because they have lots of regulations and safety protections on that platform. They provide something Twitter no longer does.”

In 2019, Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s then-CEO, announced plans to fund the development of an “open and decentralized” social media standard, according to The Guardian. Thus began the Bluesky project. Bluesky became an independent company in 2021.

The platform offers a familiar social media experience: Users can post, reply, and message others on a vertical feed, much like X. However, users can customize their feed and create custom handles using website addresses.

As X has moved toward a more deregulated user experience, recently changing its block feature to allow users to see posts from those public accounts that have blocked them, Bluesky also emphasizes its “anti-toxicity” stance.

“I don’t think that Black Twitter is going to exist within the next couple of years,” said Jonathan Johnson, a Houston, TX-based behavioral therapist and longtime Twitter and X user, per NBC.

In addition to Bluesky, users are also flocking to Spill, a Black-owned social media platform created to offer a safer, more inclusive space for diverse communities, as AFROTECH™ previously reported.

Founded in 2022 by former Twitter employees Alphonzo Terrell and DeVaris Brown, Spill raised $2.75 million in seed funding in 2023 and now has over 200,000 active users. The platform has attracted high-profile investors, including actress and activist Kerry Washington.

“In a digital world where marginalized groups, especially Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA folks, rarely feel prioritized, Spill stands out,” Washington said, per TechCrunch. “I’m proud to be part of this community as both a user and an investor.”