Is the grass greener over on Bluesky?

And more Black Friday sale goodies

Nov 27, 2024

In the summer as the UK descended into riots, I wrote about whether now was the time to break free from Twitter/X. Ethical red lines aside, I came to the conclusion that it was not meeting my social media needs as it once did. I was seeing less interesting conversations, blocking more spam, and shout outs for experts were generating tumbleweed.

Yet back in August I was also keeping a very open mind about what my new social media strategy would be. At the time Threads seemed quite promising in terms of numbers joining but my favourite was Bluesky. It was quiet but intuitive. I joined at a time when you needed an invite and had barely any followers but I did get engagement. I even connected with people for article interviews.

Cut to now and boy have things changed. Suddenly Bluesky is the place to be. Even FFJ co-founder Lily who has long stuck to Instagram was won over in a day after being able to make key connections quickly. What was once a fairly niche but thoughtful place is now more like old Twitter (I’ll leave you to decide if that’s good or bad). In the past week I have gone from a few hundred followers to 1.2k and rising. From a health journalist perspective it’s great as the medics seemed to have decamped now en masse.

Should journalists be flitting over to Bluesky? Photo by Krzysztof Niewolny on Unsplash

This was mainly triggered by the results of the US election but my gut instinct is this time it is not just a blip. High profile names in journalism, politics, etcetera, are over there and posting frequently. When I first joined there were a lot of scientists but this reach seems to have expanded into the arts, culture, education, social policy and more in a really short space of time.

A ton of official organisations have also joined in the past week (including Freelancing for Journalists) and there are now 220 MPs on there. Overall the platform is now much busier with everyone having a lovely time chatting and finding each other. The last figure I saw recorded 22 million users with the company racing to get more servers to meet demand.

In terms of my new followers I did get added to a few lists which helped. These ‘starter packs’ help newbies find like-minded people they might be interested to follow. We did a freelance journalists one (see here). But posting regularly, and liking things you’re interested in does seem to teach the platform fairly quickly what you want to see.

It’s fair to say I’ve been won over. But while the Guardian may have left Twitter/X, I’m not planning to do an official flounce off from anywhere else. I just want to share my work and look for ideas in the most effective way. Bluesky is not great for breaking news. I’m still on Twitter/X and check it from time to time. I took the app off my phone so only use it when I’m at my desk. I did get some new work over there recently through a DM but I’ve also lost about a 1,000 followers which gives you some idea how many are fleeing.

That said, I also think it’s fine not to join every social media platform out there. None of us need another place to start scrolling and wasting time. Some would argue (Marina Hyde among them) that Bluesky might be all roses now but the petals will soon fall off. As journalists I would argue we need to be where people are (whether you agree with them or not) but you can come up with your own strategy as to what platform suits your needs best.

I’m definitely not doing them all. Tik Tok I completely gave up on as it hurt my brain the minute I opened it. Threads has also completely fallen by the wayside. My current selection is Bluesky, Instagram, Twitter/X (sometimes) and Facebook for the journalism groups - including our own. As Lewis Goodall from the Newsagents podcast noted this week, I do now naturally open the BlueSky app on my phone first so I think that tells you something about a real change in habit.

At Freelancing for Journalists we will keep slowly building a presence over there, finding you all and building up that starter pack. But nothing is set in stone, who knows where we will be in another six months. We’d love to hear more from you all about your approach. We know some of you are finding LinkedIn is working well for you! Share your strategies with us and we can compare notes.

Black Friday Sale!

The Freelancing for Journalists Black Friday sale is here!

We’ve got an exciting Black Friday deal for you — 30% off a full year of the Freelancing for Journalists Premium subscription!

You can get all of our exclusive content, which includes successful pitch examples, insight into freelancers finances, recommendations for tools and resources, and ask us anything sessions for just £28 a year!

If you've been considering upgrading to the premium version, now is the perfect time to do it! But hurry! The deal ends on December 3rd 2024.

UPGRADE NOW

We are also offering up to 50% off all of our video tutorials and digital guides for the whole of November. Visit our payhip store by clicking the button below to grab yourself a deal. We have PDF guides on pitching, finding work, managing finances, branding and more! For November our video tutorials are just £5 and guides are £3.

Grab a bargain

Please fill out our survey!

Freelancing for Journalists has teamed up with Sheffield Hallam University to create The State of Freelance Journalism Report 2024. We believe this is vital in order to fight for the rates, protections and training needed to support those of us working for ourselves. Yet we can’t do this without you, so please help us build an accurate picture. Anyone who works as a full or part-time freelance journalist in the UK is eligible to complete it. All participants will be entered into a prize draw to win £50 and a set of digital freelancing guides.

Complete survey