In the wake of the US Election, tabletop creators and fans are leaving the Elon Musk-owned X for alternatives like Bluesky. While alternatives like Thread and Mastodon have also seen growth during this social media exodus, Bluesky’s unique combination of content curation tools, moderation protocols, and general ease of use have provided an opportunity for tabletop creators to rebuild communities that align with their ethics and goals.
The micro-blogging site X, formerly known as Twitter, was once heralded as a digital town square and played a pivotal role in jumpstarting the careers of many within the tabletop industry. Since being purchased by Elon Musk in October 2022 for $44 billion, the site has faced a number of significant changes — including, but not limited to, laying off 80% of its employees, turning verification badges into a paid system, inverting and dismantling moderation protections (in line with Musk’s “free speech absolutism”), a documented rise in hate speech as well as misinformation, and the involvement of Musk in the re-election of Donald Trump — causing users to abandon the once vital community and industry hub. According to NPR, after the election, over 115,000 X users had deactivated their accounts by November 19. Others have kept their accounts, to prevent potential imitators, while making statements indicating their social presence will predominantly live “where skies are bluer.”
Bluesky, which launched in early 2023, has grown from 9 millions users in September to 21.2 million users at the time of publication, with a growth rate of roughly 8 new users per second. Among those include vast swaths of the tabletop ecosystem, who are using the new platform’s tools to reconnect with their community and rebuild their audience, while protecting themselves from bad actors.
Bluesky’s lack of any centralized algorithm is both a benefit and barrier to new users. Instead of engagement farming through controversial posts, users compile “feeds” that can offer a curated series of posts around a central topic. Additionally, any Bluesky user can compile a “starter pack,” a collection of accounts under a single umbrella that users can mass follow — or block — rather than searching for individual posters. According to the independently created aggregation tool Bluesky Directory, there are currently 40 different feeds and over 200 starter packs specifically for tabletop games, with the vast majority of those focusing on tabletop roleplaying games. These discoverability and curation tools, however, can also be utilized to target marginalized individuals, which is a growing concern as the site becomes more popular — though Bluesky’s powerful (if imperfect) moderation tools like blocking and reporting offer significant safeguards that Twitter lacked.
It’s unclear how the migration to Bluesky will impact tabletop creators in the long run, though in the immediate future, many are glad to be on a platform that is not adjacent to the levers of an incoming administration with stated authoritarian goals. Whether Bluesky will provide a sense of community and opportunity early Twitter once did, or be able to maintain stability amidst such massive growth, has yet to be seen.