‘I'm Going to Bluesky’ Is the New ‘I’m Moving to Canada’

The Swifties were the canaries successful the ember mine. Last week, arsenic the fallout from the US statesmanlike election ricocheted crossed the internet, Taylor Swift fans took a stand. In droves, they near X and went to Bluesky, where, arsenic 1 Swiftie told WIRED, they could physique a caller assemblage and not “support Elon [Musk] successful immoderate way.” They weren’t alone.

A batch has happened successful the week since Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris for the US presidency. For those who walk a batch of clip online, 1 happening successful peculiar stood out: Trump’s narration with Musk, the X proprietor who leveraged his level to enactment the president-elect’s campaign. On Tuesday, Trump named Musk 1 of the heads of the new, not-yet-existent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That aforesaid day, Bluesky announced it had gained 1 cardinal caller users successful a week.

Not each of those caller migrants to Bluesky are Swift fans, caput you, but they bash correspond a definite subset of net culture: the folks who, unhappy with Musk’s links to Trump and however helium was moving X, yet gave up and decided to relocate their societal media lives. Since its rollout successful 2023, Bluesky has been a benignant of “loose, slaphappy” place, but successful the past 2 months, arsenic Slate pointed retired this week, its go a amended level for sharing quality and keeping up with unrecorded events, a lifeboat for “left-leaning Twitter refugees.”

Whereas Americans utilized to curse they’d move to Canada if their campaigner didn’t triumph (as if specified a determination is easy achieved), present they conscionable acceptable up campy connected a caller platform. No request to interruption your lease oregon merchantability your house, conscionable station “come travel maine connected Bluesky” with your caller handle. If you don’t similar immoderate of your caller neighbors, that’s cool. Bluesky offers thing astir folks telephone “the atomic block,” which lets users guarantee they don’t perceive from idiosyncratic they don’t privation to talk to oregon interact with.

The net has ever prided itself connected being astatine slightest somewhat borderless. Firewalls, connection barriers, and different hurdles exist, but the web inactive helps accusation and stories get from 1 spot to different overmuch much rapidly than anyone could question there. No visa required.

Yet, that pridefulness has ever been a spot unearned. There are gatekeepers, trolls, bullies. Musk wanted Twitter to beryllium a municipality square, but you inactive needed a instrumentality connected to the net to get there—and had to beryllium acceptable to dodge insults erstwhile you did. Even online, NIMBYs privation a say. Who gets to telephone themselves a “local” connected immoderate fixed level often gets decided by which mob rules. You tin spell to Bluesky, the Canada of the internet, but beryllium cautious what baggage you bring.