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By Tahar Rajab
News and Features Journalist
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Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform often described as an X alternative, is experiencing a widespread outage Tuesday morning. Reports began around 6 a.m. ET, with more than 5,000 users logging issues on Downdetector.
What is Bluesky?
Bluesky is a decentralized social media platform developed as an alternative to Twitter (now X), with a focus on transparency, user control, and open-source protocols. Backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Bluesky has positioned itself as a free-speech-friendly and algorithm-optional network. Its invitation-only model helped generate early buzz, particularly among users seeking a less chaotic or algorithm-driven social feed.
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Why it matters
As competition among X alternatives intensifies, outages like this risk undermining trust in platforms still trying to scale and differentiate themselves. Bluesky's performance and reliability are key to its ability to challenge its mainstream rivals.
As of today, Bluesky has over 35 million registered users worldwide.
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What to know
Although a number of users are experiencing issues with the website, the majority of complaints appear to be tied to the mobile app. The outage appears to be global.
One user wrote, "Website failed to load, seen this happen around midnight (UK) a few weeks ago as well."
In a twist of irony, many users have turned to rival platform X (formerly Twitter) to share frustration over the outage, with some posting screenshots of the error message displayed in the app.
Bluesky has yet to issue a public statement. Newsweek has contacted the platform for comment and will update this story as it develops.
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