Following the controversial rebranding of X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk has once again come under fire, and this time, it’s for the new block settings. While the social media platform’s new function aims for “greater transparency,” the change has sparked concerns about online stalking and harassment. Amidst X’s questionable move, some users have already begun to move to another app, Bluesky.
Earlier this week, X announced it will soon roll out a new function, allowing blocked accounts to still view public posts by users who have blocked them. However, it will restrict engagement with the post, such as liking, replying, reposting, etc. X’s announcement was met with criticism as several users commented their thoughts. One commenter wrote, “Big day for stalkers and harassers,” while another stated, “That’s not blocking. It’s supporting stalking.”
Bluesky sees a surge in app downloads after X changes its block settings
While X (formerly Twitter) continues to face backlash over its new block setting, another social media platform — the Bluesky app — has shared that its signups are on a massive rise. After X announced the news, the official Bluesky account warmly welcomed users to their platform. They wrote on X, “At Bluesky, we take online safety seriously.”
Bluesky further added, “If you want to block someone, you can! It’s your experience to customize.” The platform noted that over 100k new users joined the app in just 12 hours. Following that, the count went up to over half a million new people in a day as they celebrated the surge in popularity. Meanwhile, Bluesky began to trend on the X platform as users encouraged others to join the app.
Last year, Musk declared the change in the block function was arriving on the platform. While replying to a post, he shared, “Block is going to be deleted as a ‘feature’, except for DMs.” However, it is currently unclear when the new block function will come into effect. Meanwhile, X has yet to address users’ concerns regarding online safety on the platform.
