Is Bluesky big in North Carolina politics?
Bluesky has grown to be the primary text-based social media network of the Democratic Party and progressives in the last year. As Elon Musk turns X into more of his own personal platform, center to left commentators and elected officials, from the The Bulwark’s Bill Kristol to New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie, have taken to the butterfly app.
With North Carolina being an evenly divided state, with Democratic governors (and perhaps a Senator next year) but Republican majorities in the legislature and congressional delegation, there’s a question about whether it is a good place for discussion.
When we first looked at Bluesky in Massachusetts in November, the first state we examined, we found that while it was growing fast, it wasn’t quite there yet. That network has grown in the time since, but it is still far from being what Twitter used to be.
Now we’re heading to North Carolina to see if Bluesky is blooming in swing states too.
We’ve done this by checking in on how many elected officials are on the app, and who do they follow. Since they are often the key drivers of a network, by breaking news of their positions, defending their stances, and communicating with their constituents, they are a manageable lens through which to see the whole ecosystem. You can see who elected officials in NC follow with the button below. Also, we previously looked at who was followed on Twitter in NC before Elon broke their API, in case you want to compare.
It’s a small and Democratic platform
There are only 24 elected accounts on Bluesky, and only one of them is a Republican - State Sen Bob Brinson, who hasn’t posted in six months.
Part of the benefit of Twitter was being able to follow the debates that were happening between those in office and track what they were saying. A platform that doesn’t have basically any of the majority party in a legislature does not mean that it is useless, but it does mean that a lot of news will be mediated through their opponents or through the media.
News is growing fast
Most followed accounts by NC elected officials
While elected officials aren’t on Bluesky much, those that are are following news organizations, reporters, and advocates. This is a good sign for the future health of the app. One of the best things about Twitter in its golden age was the ability to quickly catch up on news from reputable organizations and experts. A quick scroll could do as much as clicking through multiple websites - one of the reasons social media took off among the DC class in the 2010s.
If elected officials find that Bluesky is a valuable collector of information - even if only part of the overall informational ecosystem - then it can find its niche. We’ll keep tracking it to see if a competitive Senate race brings it more exposure and utility in the coming months.
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