The news: The race to succeed Twitter is maturing into a two-lane race. Meta’s Threads has surged to 150 million daily active users, per Meta, while decentralized rival Bluesky has climbed to 40 million users, per TechCrunch. 

Each platform represents distinct opportunities and challenges for marketers navigating fragmented social media ecosystems.

Threads’ scale meets structure: Meta’s Threads, which announced ad options in September, offers reach and reliability. Its integration with Instagram gives brands instant access to large, verified audiences and Meta’s established ad infrastructure. 

We forecast Threads will surpass X in monthly US users by 2027, indicating a decisive shift in where public conversation and brand attention could move next. 

Perspective on Threads:

• Pros: Built-in Meta ad tech, large global base, and measurable engagement.
• Cons: Interactions are clustered around trending topics rather than sustained brand or community conversations.
• Brand play: Build an organic presence by cross-posting and community engagement to support paid ads.

Bluesky’s niche influence and trust: Bluesky’s slower but steady climb—from 5 million in March 2024 to 40 million users in October 2025, per SocialMediaToday—reflects an engaged, values-driven community. 

Its “social proximity” ranking and open-source ethos attract journalists, academics, and early tech adopters. There’s no advertising yet, but active conversations offer fertile ground for brand thought leadership and engagement.

However, Bluesky has faced criticism for slow user growth, technical challenges with its decentralized infrastructure, a dearth of advertising tools, and concerns about its ability to scale and attract major advertisers in the future.

Perspective on Bluesky:

• Pros: High engagement, low competition, credible discussions.
• Cons: Small audience, nonexistent ad options, unclear revenue model.
• Brand play: Experiment with influencer collaborations, community listening, and early-adopter engagement to build credibility.

Our take: The post-Twitter world is segmenting. Threads offers scale and a burgeoning ad ecosystem, but Bluesky might be better for more organic brand engagement with specific user groups. 

For brands, the opportunity lies in balance: Use Threads for audience growth and measurable performance and Bluesky to test tone, voice, and authenticity. Together, they offer a preview of where digital conversation and brand storytelling are headed next.