BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The day after this month's election, more than 115,000 X users deactivated their accounts, according to social media analytics websites Similar Web.

At the same time, the site reported daily usage on Bluesky, a platform modeled on Twitter and started by its former CEO, saw a 500% surge. James Madison University professor of communications Jason Mollica believes some users have become increasingly frustrated with the content on X and its owner, Elon Musk.

"The election was sort of, I think, the last straw for many. I don't think it was the absolute thing that drove people," Mollica said.

Politicians, mostly Democrats so far, have followed the trend, including a number of New York state legislators. State Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse, said she stopped using her personal account on X when Musk took over and last week announced she would no longer use her public account while directing people to find her on other social media, including Bluesky.

"I think when they stopped doing any kind of monitoring for the real hate speech, that was what pushed me off. I just felt like it was getting flooded with comments and language that I just didn't want to be associated with," May said.

Mollica said politicians should consider Bluesky if they believe they have an audience there. However, he said pulling away from X altogether doesn't make sense from a strategic communications standpoint.

"You should still at least keep your Twitter account and then keep the engagement. You don't have to be every day, but keep it enough where it keeps people informed that hey, you're still here and to understand that you should be following me at Bluesky as well," he said.

May said it's important to communicate with people who may not agree with her political views. However, she said even before X began to tilt more conservatively, she used the platform primarily to make statements for the media, not direct communication with constituents.

"I think we need to find ways that we can communicate with each other. I've been talking to my staff about really making sure that in the coming session we're getting out and directly interacting more with people," May said.