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Fire on the Hill is today unveiling a new study exploring the social media habits of journalists and revealing that decentralized, open-source platform Bluesky is gaining in popularity.
The Strange Death of Liberal X reveals, while the Elon Musk-owned behemoth remains the dominant player on the microblogging landscape, Bluesky is gaining ground, often with more recent posting activity than X.
Data analysis was conducted alongside our research partner Mercury Analytics, using the MercuryAI Analytics platform to identify trends regarding platform popularity, activity levels, and usage variations across media verticals.
The research identified Bluesky is the most popular alternative to X, with a quarter of journalists holding an account. By comparison, only 17 per cent of the sample is currently using Threads, with Mastodon used by nine per cent.
Moreover, three quarters of Bluesky users posted within one month of the research, compared with only 36 per cent of X users.
The Fire on the Hill research also shows journalists from different sectors have varied levels of interest in moving away from X. Technology journalists, for example, are more open to trying new platforms, perhaps to track new and emerging conversations in untapped areas, whereas for other sectors this is less of a priority.
While many journalists still have accounts on X, they are clearly using Bluesky more actively, suggesting brands looking for an alternative to X should consider opening an account. However, it is important to take note of which platforms journalists in their sector are most deeply engaging with.
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The full report is packed with deeper insight into the shifting social media landscape – and can be downloaded free of charge here.
