The Gays are Breaking Up with X and Flocking to Bluesky

Twitter had a reputation as a hangout for toxic trolls even while Twitter still was Twitter, let alone before Elon Musk acquired the platform and renamed it "X."

Once a powerhouse of social media (and still claiming to be a "digital town square," a boast that not everyone buys), X seems to be losing its "x-factor" as queer users defect in droves, a trend that has accelerated in the wake of the last election. All of those people have to be going somewhere, though - and, as it happens, they've spread their wings to take to emerging rival platform Bluesky, which has, reports say, gained more than a million new users after Election Day cast a pall over the prospects of LGBTQ+ Americans holding on to the gains of recent years.

Just ask self-described "#gymbro" Jhon, whose presence on the platform answers his own question:

hi, any gay here ? #gaybluesky #gymbro

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- Jhon (@xnnk.bsky.social) November 13, 2024 at 9:23 PM

Gays who have made the jump have not been shy about saying so - and extending an invite for others to do the same, as leather enthusiast and jockstrap-rocking Otterjock has.

Hey gay bluesky ppl. I saw everyone move from X. Follow me here! Thanks.

#gay #gaybluesky #gaybsky #gaymen #hairygay #daddy #jockstrap #otterjock

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- Otterjock (@otter-jock.bsky.social) November 12, 2024 at 2:52 PM

After first going online as an invitation-only beta version (full disclosure: This correspondent has had a Bluesky account since those early days), the social media platform started accepting anyone who wanted to sign up. "Anyone" started looking more and more like "everyone" as impetus grew to escape X for greener - or bluer - pastures, and the fact that Bluesky permits steamy posts (with the right settings users can even access explicit content, such as at the extremely NSFW account Viral Porno Gay +18) means that giving up on X doesn't mean losing a certain freedom of self-expression.

The platform openly celebrates queer culture, even hosting FCFs... "Fat Cock Fridays."

Have a look at some of the queer accounts flourishing even now at Bluesky, such as that belonging to self-proclaimed "gay stoner" Rookki:

Wake N Bake 💨

@andrewchristianinc.bsky.social

#stoner #gaystoner #jockstrap

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- Rookii (@rookiibottom.bsky.social) November 23, 2024 at 11:10 AM

Clearly, there's an sense of unspoiled fun as the platform continues to surge.

I'm not as innocent as I look 😏😈

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- James hinchliffe (@tattooedgingerlad.bsky.social) November 25, 2024 at 12:22 PM