Tomorrow's Business Today
In the fight between X and Bluesky, a winner emerges
A report from last night: “Bluesky, the social media site that has grown rapidly following an exodus of users from Elon Musk’s X, is in breach of EU regulations for not disclosing user numbers, the European Commission said.”
Where did this news appear? Well, on Twitter first of all.
New users include EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen – perhaps it was her who noticed the breach.
Will Bluesky users retaliate? Point out that X owner Elon Musk is heading for potentially far worse trouble than just a breach of EU regulations.
Hacks are certainly moving to Bluesky, though it feels like they are just dipping their toes in rather than fully committing. (I’ve had a little go @englishsimon.bksy.social. I have 10, no wait, 11 followers.)
The common view among senior hacks is that Bluesky is fine, but a bit of a drag. Just one more thing to check.
One City editor says: “It’s not something we’ve given much thought to, which probably tells its own story. Our social strategy for business is currently getting a refresh and focusing on LinkedIn.”
Twitter is still more useful for policy and economics ideas.
And from a practical point of view, forget the news, Twitter is still a better source of information if “Gatwick is evacuated or you want a clip of the outrageous decision to award a penalty against your team”.
Another City editor says: “Bluesky is not about replacing X but just more fracturing of the public sphere. A retreat to safe spaces etc. There is nothing wrong with that but a lack of diversity in any given network does make it less interesting for news journalists I think.”
So, the common consent is that even if Bluesky is nicer, X can’t be beaten for news.
PR Week reports that flaks are making the leap to Bluesky, with some enjoying a “refreshing departure from the toxicity and commercialism of platform rivals”.
We seem very far from a tipping point however.
A flak says: “Not one single client has asked me about Bluesky – ie, ‘should I be on it’. And nobody says ‘what’s our strategy for X’, either. Generally speaking it is a case of monitoring it to flag the nutters. LinkedIn is a different kettle, by far the most important channel.”
I got that answer a lot.
In the fight between X and Bluesky, the winner is already LinkedIn.
Please send candidates for press release of the day to: Simon.english@roxhillmedia.com
Press release of the day
CEOs are more focussed on cost cutting than improving diversity, says Reboot in its Race to Equality: UK Financial Services 2024 report.
While the Black Lives Matter movement sparked a change two years ago, “since then there has been no remarkable improvement, with over two thirds of employees saying that their employer’s current state of ethnic and racial diversity efforts has not changed or has declined”.
CEOs don’t understand the full severity and impact of racism, says the report.
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