John Carlos Baez
I quit Twitter and moved to Mastodon in October 2022 when Elon Musk took over. Many other academics also came to Mastodon, and I was very happy - see my pinned posts. But most of them later became inactive.
I stick around because I've decided that corporate-owned social media are dangerous - especially now, when authoritarians are spreading their reach. Turns out it's unrealistic to expect that most academics feel this way - yet. They may get the idea when it's too late.
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John Carlos Baez
As for journalists, I've seen some recent articles saying they still feel a need to be on Twitter (or whatever it's called). This article says that's less true nowadays. But if the US goes full-on authoritarian, and our new rulers are big on social media, I bet journalists will feel the need to be there.
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https://today.emerson.edu/2024/06/05/twitter-xed-out-how-are-journalists-using-social-media-now/
Luke Drury
@johncarlosbaez It's worse in anglophone regions - I was able to persuade the Federation of European Academies @ALLEA to move from Twitter to Mastodon, in the Netherlands the NRN has set up Mastodon accounts for all academic institutions, and there is considerable movement in Germany.
Luke Drury
@johncarlosbaez Same here.
AskPippa🇨🇦
@johncarlosbaez As a science journalist, I'm having a much better experience here than I did on Twitter. More followers, more interactions, more story ideas, and new experts.
But if I were reporting on politics or current events, I'd have to include Twitter (and other platforms) to follow those types of stories.
I closed my Twitter account a few months after starting on Mastodon.
Regezi
@weddige
I think it would be good if media primarily operate their own, verified account in the Fediverse and other networks are only used indirectly in order to maintain sovereignty over their content to some extent in the age of AI...an algorithm also distorts relevance... Journalists & media should not only see themselves as timekeepers, but also as time-setters...
@BashStKid @johncarlosbaez
BashStKid
@johncarlosbaez The fediverse in general is so much better suited to academia in just about every way. But, as you say, clearly a substantial number will stay until the bitter end, no matter how much Twitter turns into a fascist sewer.
Journalists, I can understand are reluctant to leave. What possible academic reason is there to be on Der Stürmer?
Konstantin Weddige
@BashStKid @johncarlosbaez same reason many politicians have to stay: the journalists.
Mastodon is great if you want to have meaningful discussions. But if you hope that someone will read your paper or statement and quote it in the news, other platforms are (still) better. For wider adoption, Mastodon also needs to serve as a tool for self-promotion.
tayledras
I would COMPLETELY agree.
I have several friends who work in mass communications and journalism, and ALL of them tell me that social media has become badly balkanized and fractured.
For news investigation and reporting, we no longer have social media aggregation on par with the worldwide use and support that Twitter had in its heyday.
Mastodon / Misskey / Fediverse are still a balkanized, fractured, and uneven mess.
Ooze 𓁟
@tayledras @johncarlosbaez What you call balkanised I call diversified. Calling Mastodon a mess when Twitter is as it is is completely unjustified.
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