Regional newsbrands are joining the rush to sign up for new social media platform BlueSky.

The microblogging site, which was designed by former employees of Twitter – now X – has grown to nearly 20m followers over the past week.

Reductions in the number of monthly posts being allowed on X coupled with the rise of far-right content on the Elon Musk-owned platform has forced many publishers to re-examine their social media strategy.

Major newsbrands to join BlueSky in recent days include the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, Birmingham Live, Bolton News, Lancashire Telegraph, Sheffield Star, The Herald and The Scotsman.

As well as corporate accounts many journalists on these and other titles have also opened accounts on the platform.

The Echo explained its thinking in an editorial penned by political editor Liam Thorpe and audience editor Paul Philbin, with both journalists citing “vile abuse” and “disinformation” on X among the reasons for the change .

Said Liam: “Twitter (X) has been an immense tool for me in my career as a journalist. It was always the first place I would share stories and ideas. It was also a brilliant news-gathering forum for me, with people regularly sending me tip-offs and important information via direct messages and highlighting posts in my notifications.

“Unfortunately, for the past year or so, this has not been the case. X has become a difficult place both to cultivate my journalism and to be a journalist in general, with posts often being met with either vile abuse, spam or bots.

“For me X is now much harder to use for news-gathering and distribution and it provides an increasingly unpleasant experience. So far Bluesky has felt more positive.

“It is early days in terms of widespread usage but it appears to be a place where people are keen to engage, share thoughts and offer interesting perspectives. It feels like a promising new space for news and journalism and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.”

Added Paul: “Following the aftermath of the tragic attacks in Southport in the summer, we saw a rise in referral traffic on the Echo from X. During the riots, we would see huge spikes in our audience. But, with that, came a lot of vile responses towards our reporters.

“We also saw a lot of disinformation and misinformation spreading like wildfire on X and and, personally, that was when I first felt we needed a new platform. So far the experience on Bluesky has been positive.”

The Sheffield Star said in an editorial: “Like many news organisations, including the Guardian, The Scotsman and others, The Star has joined BlueSky. The social networking site is growing rapidly as an alternative to Elon Musk’s X.

“After a reduction in posts on X, The Star and its parent company, National World, have sought other ways to communicate with readers and share our journalism. The Star hopes to expand its reach with a new audience amid an ongoing change in social media usage.”

HoldtheFrontPage has also launched a BlueSky account while also remaining on X for the time being.

Publisher Paul Linford said: “We have built up more than 24,000 followers on X over the years and we wouldn’t give up that sort of audience reach lightly.

“But BlueSky is growing fast and may well become the social media platform of choice for journalists in the coming years, so it make sense for us to build a presence there too.”

Our BlueSky account can be found on: @holdthefrontpage.bsky.social.