Bluesky Reaches a 2026 Usage High on Midterm Election Night

Bluesky’s daily activity reached its highest levels of 2026 during the U.S. midterm election, with annual peaks in posts, replies and likes as election results came in.

On Nov. 4, the social platform logged 44 million likes, 4.8 million posts and 2 million new follows. The likes total came 1 million short of its single-day record of 45 million, set in November 2024.

Bluesky CEO Toni Schneider said posts and likes doubled during the elections. He also wrote that new people were joining and “old friends coming back.”

Chief Operating Officer Rose Wang said usage began peaking from 11 p.m. Nov. 3 to 1 a.m. Nov. 4 ET, as election results arrived. Posts were 30% above their previous 30-day average and likes were 70% higher, while link clicks rose 20%.

Data traffic reached up to 35.8 gigabytes per second, 200% above usual levels.