Amid exodus from X, some Maine businesses add BlueSky to their social media mix

Photo / Courtesy, Adobe Stock BlueSky is growing in popularity as a microblogging alternative to X, which is owned by Elon Musk, a businessman, space entrepreneur and ally of President-elect Donald Trump.

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By Renee Cordes

Photo / Courtesy, Adobe Stock

BlueSky was developed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

With Elon Musk's social media platform X losing popularity these days, some Maine businesses are adding BlueSky as a microblogging alternative in their social media mix.

A variety of sports, news, academic and nonprofit organizations are among the first to try BlueSky, the platform developed by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. (He has since left the Twitter board of directors and deleted his own account.)

Indeed, BlueSky's blue-and-white butterfly logo is reminiscent of the Twitter bird that flew the coop after Musk bought and rebranded the short-form text platform.

The similarities include the ability to post short messages, images and videos. There are also familiar functions such as liking, reposting and replying, though it can be hard to find other users' "handles" on BlueSky.

As political discourse and Musk's support of President-elect Donald Trump lead some users to quit the X platform, BlueSky’s popularity has recently soared — with a user count of 20 million and growing.

Screenshot

Maine Public introduced itself on BlueSky with this humorous post.

Maine newcomers to BlueSky in the past week include Maine Public, which used a cat-at-a-computer meme for its first post. By Friday morning, the public broadcaster was up to 1,400 followers.

“We reserved Maine Public's username on BlueSky around the same time that we left X, recognizing it as a possible replacement for X in the future,” Cory Morrissey, Maine Public’s chief business development officer, told Mainebiz on Thursday.

While Maine Public did not post immediately after joining BlueSky, Morrissey said the broadcaster changed tack after the flurry of post-election activity on the platform.

“We visited our profile to find that almost 1,000 followers were ‘waiting’ for us if we ever chose to post,” prompting a snap decision to start engaging on the platform this week, he said.

“As digital platforms grow and transform at an increasingly rapid pace, we feel that nimbly following our audiences is the best way for us to keep up with the industry and serve the state of Maine,” he added.

Among other media organizations on BlueSky, the Portland Press Herald is up to 9,600 followers, the Bangor Daily News has 521 followers and NBC-TV news affiliate News Center Maine has 201.

Sports fandom

Maine sports teams posting on BlueSky include the new Portland Hearts of Pine soccer team, with 404 followers as of Friday morning.

Hearts of Pine social media post about new team jersey

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The Portland Hearts of Pine had this post Thursday about the team's inaugural jersey.

The Hearts opened on BlueSky with a tongue-in-cheek post asking, "Hey, is this thing on?" while the Sea Dogs' first post was a promotion for 2025 single-game tickets at its newly renamed Portland ballpark.

On Thursday evening, the Hearts had a post about the team's inaugural jersey with two photos.

Both remain active on X, where the Sea Dogs have 51,800 followers and the Hearts 3,200 followers.

“With many people joining BlueSky, it was important for us to secure our handle before someone else did,” Chris Cameron, the Sea Dogs’ vice president of communications and fan experience, told Mainebiz.

“We also noticed last week that a lot of Boston media members were shifting over to BlueSky, and we need to stay connected with them to keep up to date on the latest Red Sox news as well as utilizing them as a resource to help get our information out to the public,” he added.

“We want to be on all the social media platforms that our fans are on so that we can connect with them and provide them with the content and information that they would like, therefore we plan to keep our presence on X and have added BlueSky to our social media mix.”

Other Maine organizations on BlueSky include the University of Maine, Husson University, Maine Academy of Modern Music and Portland's State Theatre, none of which had posted as of early Friday.

Mixed reviews

Marketing experts are watching BlueSky’s trajectory with interest.

“BlueSky is attracting a diverse demographic characterized by younger, tech-savvy individuals who prioritize privacy and decentralized social networking,” said Nancy Marshall, CEO of Marshall Communications and a regular Mainebiz columnist.

“Many of these users are disillusioned with Twitter's content moderation policies and are seeking alternative spaces that foster authentic interactions,” she noted. “Previously I enjoyed connecting with journalists on Twitter, but now I am hopeful that I will be able to build and maintain relationships with journalists on BlueSky.”

Marshall joined BlueSky this week as well in what she called a momentous occasion.

“My inspiring advice today is to let your inner light shine,” she said in her first post. "Don’t hide your light under a bushel.”

At Burgess Advertising & Marketing, account executive Dustyn Bailey said the Portland agency is on LinkedIn and Facebook but not yet on BlueSky.

His take on the new platform as it relates to his industry: “BlueSky is a Twitter alternative that hasn't been monetized, so it's not a subject that has come up in local advertising,” he said.

“BlueSky may be trending, but there is no built-in analytics to track. So it seems like it is difficult to determine its effectiveness for brands that want to justify the time and money spent incorporating this into an organic social media strategy.”

Back at the Sea Dogs’ home base, it remains to be seen whether mascot Slugger — who has more than 4,000 followers on X — will spread his wings (or paws) to BlueSky.

“He can be tough to track down in the off-season,” Cameron said.