If you have been paying attention to sex worker Twitter, you may have noticed many of us posting Bluesky handles and telling you to follow us over there. What’s going on and why have we collectively decided to suddenly swap to a new social media platform?
As the landscape of sex work has changed, social media has become a vital part of how sex workers advertise. It helps establish legitimacy as a provider through a history of posting. It can be reassuring for clients to see that yes, the provider whose ad they are looking at is a real person. Social media also helps us reach clients outside of our home base cities. Ads can only do so much to reach clients in other cities, and socials help provide that extended reach for clients who are paying attention to when we tour or who want to book a Fly Me To You (FMTY). I have personally picked up some of my favorite clients from outside Philly because they found me on my socials! While not strictly required, social media is a form of advertising and establishing legitimacy that can be hugely helpful to us getting work.
As the landscape of sex work has changed, social media has become a vital part of how sex workers advertise.
Up until recently, Twitter (X) was the most popular platform for sex workers. It allows nudity and is the least likely social media platform to ban our accounts. Unlike sites such as Instagram, which are notorious for banning sex workers of ALL flavors, on a hair trigger. The main problem with Twitter is how likely we are to be shadowbanned. Shadowbans limit our reach by making posts less visible on the feed, so while it is possible for potential clients to see our posts, the number of eyeballs is not as high as accounts without a shadowban. Personally, I have my main Twitter account for sex work, as well as a personal safe for work (SFW) account – which does not have a shadowban. It is not uncommon for my posts on my SFW account to have double the engagement of my main, despite the follower count being a third of my sex work account.
Bluesky has been open access since February, after an initial period of closed beta testing, and twitter has been shadowbanning us since forever. So why the exodus now? Twitter has slowly gotten worse since Elon Musk acquired the website. In part the proliferation of right wing trolls, enabled by Musk, alongside unpopular site updates. One recent change was to the block function: previously, blocking a user prevented them from seeing any of your content, but now they are just unable to interact with your posts. This can be dangerous for sex workers, making stalking us just that little bit easier. The trigger seems to have been the 2024 election. Musk has had increasing involvement with Donald Trump’s incoming administration, headlined by the announcement he would co-head the new “Department of Government Efficiency.” That involvement leads to some serious security concerns for sex workers. Will Musk pass along our personal information from Twitter to the government, painting targets on sex workers backs? Enough finally seemed to be enough. Sex workers needed the push to transfer to a platform that was more friendly, and the election seemed to be the final straw. Bluesky, a newer, decentralized social media platform that started in 2023 with many similarities to Twitter, ended up being the place to escape to.
Sex workers needed the push to transfer to a platform that was more friendly, and the election seemed to be the final straw.
So why Bluesky in particular? Simply put, it’s the most sex worker friendly social media platform out there. The site allows nudity, but more importantly, there are currently no shadowbans against sex worker accounts. Personally, my engagement on Bluesky is already starting to approach the level of my Twitter account, despite having less than a tenth of the followers. We can actually grow our platforms and gain the visibility needed to advertise in areas besides our home base. Bluesky users’ ability to customize their feeds and the content they see does even more to make sure our posts are viewed by the people we want to see them. Plus, the vibes are just immaculate right now. Moving to this new platform feels like a breath of fresh air, and it feels easier to engage with each other in this new space with all this increased visibility.
Considering all this, it makes sense for clients to move to Bluesky too. You can already see more of providers' posts due to the lack of shadowbans. Bluesky has more customization over feeds and what content you see, and you can work the algorithm so you see more of your favorite sex workers. It is significantly easier to see our posts announcing tours, last minute availability, and the like. Clients switching over also incentivizes sex workers to be more active on Bluesky too. Knowing that clients are following us on Bluesky affirms that the platform is a viable place to advertise, and we can rely on Twitter less.
Sex workers have been fed up with Twitter, and, in the face of an upcoming administration where anything could happen with our security and safety, we are seeking bluer skies. Join us there!
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
We started the tryst.link sex worker blog to help amplify those who aren't handed the mic and bring attention to the issues ya'll care about the most. Got a tale to tell? 👇☂️✨
