Left-leaning Influencers Try Bluesky Yet Retain X Accounts

Prominent left-leaning influencers have expanded to Bluesky while continuing to post on X, according to new Pew Research Center data covered by TechCrunch. This dual-platform strategy highlights where social influence and news conversations are shifting in 2025.

Pew’s latest analysis focuses on a curated group of 500 influential accounts. Each has at least 100,000 followers on a major platform and posts regularly about current affairs. By March 2025, 43% of these high-profile voices had established a Bluesky presence, with more than half joining after the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The data reveals a strong partisan divide: 69% of self-identified liberal or Democratic influencers were found on Bluesky, compared to just 15% of conservative counterparts. This rapid migration follows recent moves by X owner Elon Musk, whose alignment with former President Donald Trump spurred some users to look for new digital venues.

However, the bulk of these influential accounts are keeping one foot firmly on X. As of spring 2025, 82% still maintain a profile there, down slightly from 85% in late 2024. Nearly nine in ten who now use Bluesky also remain active on X, showing that few are abandoning the larger platform altogether.

Despite more influencers joining Bluesky, most continue to post more frequently on X. Engagement levels on the newer platform are rising: Pew documented an increase in active posting from 54% in early January to 66% by the end of March. During the same period, X remained popular but saw a small decline in activity: 92% of news influencers on X posted there in the first full week of January, compared with 87% in the last full week of March. This reflects something of a "soft protest" to Elon Musk’s changes at X, with many influencers supplementing rather than replacing their activity.

Still, Bluesky hasn’t come close to surpassing X as the central hub for news influencers. X continues to enjoy critical mass, with a far larger reported user base (reportedly 600 million monthly active users) compared to Bluesky’s 36 million. Even after Bluesky saw a post-election peak of 1.5 million daily posters, its activity has since declined by about a third, while competitors like Meta’s Threads surged ahead, now reaching 350 million monthly actives.

This search for alternatives isn’t new in the social media landscape. X’s staying power remains significant, thanks to wider reach and entrenched audiences. While Bluesky offers a fresh start—appealing to those with strong views about a free, open, decentralized web—mass adoption has not yet followed. As past attempts like Mastodon have shown, most users prioritize convenience and large audiences over open protocols or decentralized features.

For creators and marketers, this pattern signals an important trend: cross-platform presence is now essential. Building a following on both established and emerging platforms allows broader reach and hedges against network-specific risks, such as algorithm changes or policy shifts. Even influential advocates for open social web principles are unlikely to fully abandon their audiences on mainstream apps, choosing instead to diversify their presence.

The broader race among platforms to attract creators and influential voices remains intense. Competition from players like Bluesky has spurred new feature releases and engagement tools across the industry. Each time a major platform makes unpopular changes—like controversial data practices or reduced reach for certain content—there is potential for renewed migrations to alternatives like Bluesky. Still, critical mass and simplicity remain the primary drivers for where most people spend their time.

Looking ahead, Bluesky’s participation numbers among influencers will likely keep climbing as the network expands. The biggest test will be whether these users shift their main audiences—and posting frequency—away from X, or simply add Bluesky to their online toolkit.

In the meantime, creators, brands, and digital strategists can benefit from monitoring these migrations and adapting their tactics to seize new spaces as they gain traction.