We Analyzed 1.7M Posts from X, Threads, and Bluesky: Here’s What We Learned

Everyone talks about how different social media platforms are, and it’s not hard to see why. X is treated as the town square. Threads wants to be the friendly alternative. Bluesky champions decentralization and user control.

But when we analyzed 1.7 million posts, a surprising pattern emerged: posts on X, Threads, and Bluesky get the same median engagement.

In other words, whether you posted on X, Threads, or Bluesky, the median engagement lands at exactly four interactions.

At first glance, this might make these platforms seem more alike than we’d expect. But a closer look tells a different story. Beyond that baseline, their engagement dynamics diverge dramatically, revealing hidden patterns about virality, consistency, and audience behavior.

The engagement patterns we’ve uncovered don’t just highlight platform differences — they show why a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work in 2025.

Our data scientist analyzed posts from 56,000 users to uncover these trends, and what we found changes the way we should think about social media strategy in 2025 — especially if you’re deciding where to post and what to expect from each platform.

Understanding the data

Before we dive into engagement trends, let’s break down what we’re actually measuring and how we made sure these comparisons are fair.

This analysis covers 1.7 million posts from 56,000 users across X, Threads, and Bluesky in early 2025. That’s a lot of data — but as with any social media study, context matters.

What we’re measuring

In this analysis, engagements refer to the total number of interactions a post receives — likes, comments, reposts, all of it. We chose this metric because it’s the only one that can be directly compared across all three platforms.

Now, if you’ve read our previous analysis comparing engagement rates on X and Threads, you might notice what looks like a contradiction. That study suggested that Threads posts tend to have higher engagement rates, while this analysis suggests that, on average, X posts receive just as many engagements as Threads posts.

Both findings are true — because they’re measuring different things.

• Engagement rate measures how many people who see a post interact with it.
• Total engagements count all interactions, regardless of how many people saw the post.

Neither metric is inherently better — it just depends on what you’re looking to measure.

• If you’re focused on how likely a post is to engage its audience, engagement rate matters more.
• If you care about how much total interaction a platform generates, total engagements tell a clearer story.

This is a good reminder that platform comparisons depend on your perspective and that a single number rarely captures the full picture.

What’s ultimately important to remember is that social media engagement data is inherently skewed, and some people will get more engagement than others regardless of the network they post to. We used a mixed-effects regression model in this analysis to control for those factors.

How engagement patterns differ across X, Threads, and Bluesky

Throughout 2024, the typical post on all three platforms performed the same way:

Half of all posts on X, Threads, and Bluesky received four or fewer engagements.

At first glance, this suggests that engagement levels are nearly identical across platforms. But looking a little closer, this isn’t always the case. For example, in February 2025:

• Threads increased to a median of 5 engagements
• X remained at 4
• Bluesky dropped to 3

These shifts may seem small, but they indicate that each platform is developing distinct identities and that external factors are always shifting, affecting how they perform.

How engagement scales on each platform

Looking at the median engagement tells us how a typical post performs, but it doesn’t capture what happens when posts take off.

The large gap between median and average engagement means some posts go viral, pulling the averages up. This is similar to salary distributions, where a few high earners inflate the average, even though most people make much less.

The average (baseline) number of engagements shows a dramatically different picture:

• X: 328 average engagements
• Threads: 58 average engagements
• Bluesky: 21 average engagements

The key point that explains these differences is that the variance in the number of engagements is much, much higher on X than on Threads and Bluesky.

Engagements on X have a standard deviation of over 5,000, meaning there is a very wide spread in engagement. The median is lower than the average because the distribution of engagement is skewed towards 0.

What is a standard deviation, and why does it matter?

A platform’s spread (or standard deviation) tells us how far posts can climb beyond the baseline. A larger spread means any given post to the platform has higher viral potential, while a smaller spread means that posts get more predictable engagement.

Basically, the three platforms are on a spectrum from Wild Virality → Predictability. Here’s what we discovered about the different spreads on each platform.

X is high risk, high reward

X has the widest engagement spread, with posts deviating by 5,159 engagements from the baseline.

Most posts still receive four engagements or fewer, but when a post takes off, it can go viral in the extreme.

This makes X the best platform for viral reach, even though posting there means you run the 'risk' of modest engagement.

The massive spread potential on X means that when a post breaks out, it can go viral in a way that’s nearly impossible elsewhere. Here’s how to play to X’s strengths:

• Post consistently. Since virality is unpredictable, regular posting increases your chances of landing a breakout post.
• Experiment with highly shareable content. Memes, hot takes, and news-driven posts thrive on X’s fast-moving algorithm.
• Expect inconsistency. Most posts will get little engagement, but the potential payoff is high.

Threads offers consistent and predictable growth

Threads has a moderate spread, with posts deviating by 628 engagements from the baseline.

Its bump to a 5-engagement median suggests that engagement is stabilizing at a higher level.

Unlike X, where virality is unpredictable, Threads rewards creators who post regularly with steadier audience growth than any other platform. To succeed on Threads:

• Focus on conversation-driven content. Posts that encourage replies and discussion tend to perform better than one-way broadcasts.
• Build a community. Unlike X, where virality is the goal, Threads supports more long-term, engaged followers.

Bluesky offers niche but reliable engagement

Bluesky has the smallest spread, with posts deviating by 279 engagements from the baseline.

While its median engagement has dropped to 3, the lower spread means engagement is more predictable.

Growth on Bluesky is slower but steadier, making it better suited for niche, community-driven content rather than viral reach. Here’s how to approach Bluesky:

• Create for a specific audience. Bluesky isn’t about mass engagement — it’s about focused, community-driven content.
• Expect steady but slow growth. Engagement is more predictable than on X but less explosive.
• Use it for deeper conversations. Thoughtful, discussion-heavy posts perform better than viral-style content.

Do you need a cross-platform strategy?

The recent divergence in median engagement and engagement spread on X, Threads, and Bluesky tells us something important: These platforms are no longer interchangeable.

Each platform now offers unique advantages depending on your goals. You can choose to focus all of your efforts on growing one social network, or you can work on a multi-channel strategy.

If you go with the multi-channel approach, remember to tailor your strategy to each platform. You can still use strategies like cross-posting across platforms; we'd recommend you do so thoughtfully.

To cross-post smarter in 2025:

• Customize for platform strengths. With a few tweaks, the same post might go viral on X, get steady engagement on Threads, and spark discussion on Bluesky. Adjust captions, formatting, or tone accordingly.
• Use scheduling tools to stay efficient. Posting manually across platforms is unsustainable. Use Buffer to note your ideas, draft your posts, and edit them for each platform, then post everywhere without extra work.
• Analyze your own engagement trends. While these patterns are platform-wide, your audience might engage differently. Use data from your own posts to refine your strategy.

Most of all, stay flexible. Platforms and the trends that they create change fast. The key is adapting to how engagement evolves over time.

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