Science research gets more engagement on Bluesky than X, study finds \ stacker news ~science

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Science research gets more engagement on Bluesky than X, study finds www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/01/science-research-gets-more-engagement-on-bluesky-than-x-study-finds

133 sats \ 6 comments \ @NovaRift 3 Sep science

A study examining 2.6m Bluesky posts referencing more than 500,000 scholarly articles over the past two and a half years found they demonstrated “substantially higher levels of interaction” – likes, reposts, replies and quotes – and greater “textual originality” than previously reported for X, formerly Twitter.

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A study suggests proper engagement is the key to the favour Bluesky has found among scientists. A team predominantly from the UK’s Sheffield University found that almost half the scientific posts on Bluesky received at least 10 likes, while a third were reposted 10 or more times. Previous research has shown those metrics were far lower on X, with up to 4.4% receiving 10 or more reposts.

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“We had a large community on science Twitter, where I was very active for 15 years,” said Tara C Smith, a professor of epidemiology at Kent State University College of Public Health in the US. “Engagement dropped off dramatically and the number of troll and bot responses increased. It just became a useless platform to me, despite having about 130,000 followers at my peak.

“At Bluesky, though it’s significantly smaller, I can have good discussions with people who are interested in my area as well as fellow experts. It serves the same purpose as SciTwitter as far as keeping up with new research, but also is far more amenable to conversation.”

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David Shiffman, a marine conservation biologist, was another early adopter of social media for science engagement. He said he switched to Bluesky after becoming concerned about conspiracy theories on X. “Bluesky isn’t better than Twitter ever was, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Twitter is now,” he said.

Andrew Thaler, a deep sea biologist with 38,000 Bluesky followers, said: “The community is platform agnostic, they really don’t care what platform you are on. What matters is where the people are. So it was about making sure people moved over and the community continued to flourish. Science on Bluesky is kind of the best part of Bluesky. A smaller social network is not necessarily a negative. The engagement is tremendous.”

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15 sats \ 5 replies \ @south_korea_ln 3 Sep

I read a similar report on this. They made the link with the political affiliation of Twitter users vs BlueSky users.

Twitter has become synonymous with Musk, and Musk has made clear what kind of free speech he supports... and that is diametrically opposed to what the majority of left/liberal-minded scientists look for on social media.

I don't blame them. Twitter's front page has really become a cesspool of Russian bots trying to make everyone believe Europe has become a warzone of violent immigration. It hasn't, at least, not to the level the accounts Musk regularly retweets try to portray.

If only we could get them to SN. But SN implies Bitcoin. And, at least in the US, Bitcoin is not favorably viewed by liberals. And because many (most?) scientists are left-leaning, that's a reduced pool to draw from.

Maybe I should make myself a Bluesky account to form a more informed opinion on this phenomenon...

121 sats \ 0 replies \ @NovaRift OP 3 Sep

I think you put it very well on point, especially the propaganda part. What concerns me most is that X has now become the platform through which people view the news the most and form opinions based on so called influencers there. The situation was so much worse before i left on X you couldn't be sure whether the person you're arguing with was even a real person or a propaganda bot. There are accounts being caught that pretend to be from Israel, Uk, the US, Russia, Palestine, Ukraine but are run by jobless people from countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc.

If only we could get them to SN. But SN implies Bitcoin. And, at least in the US, Bitcoin is not favorably viewed by liberals. And because many (most?) scientists are left-leaning, that's a reduced pool to draw from.

This is true. Bitcoin creates a huge problem here i mean a huge proportion of the population views Bitcoin negatively, so you're right that we can't get them here. But i think it's not strictly a liberal or conservative thing because I've seen both sides hate bitcoin and put it in the same category as shitcoins. Those who want to make money and understand the technical side even a bit invest in Bitcoin+ and other cryptocurrencies.

I'm going to make an account today. I love liberals wanna see what my X refugees are cooking over there.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @SimpleStacker 3 Sep

I don't blame them. Twitter's front page has really become a cesspool of Russian bots trying to make everyone believe Europe has become a warzone of violent immigration. It hasn't, at least, not to the level the accounts Musk regularly retweets try to portray.

I'm wondering how you know this? I also watch the videos and news from Europe with alarm, knowing that what's presented to me may be highly skewed.

But at the same time, if you ask me whether the conservative slant on chaos in big Democratic cities is accurate or not, I'd say, "It's skewed, but that doesn't mean there isn't a huge crime problem."

I live in Los Angeles. I've been in a shop when someone threw a brick in the window. I've watched a homeless person slash a car's tires in front of me (and I know multiple friends who've had that done to them). I had a homeless person yell into my daugther's ear as we walked by. My house has been broken into. Toothpaste is locked behind glass cabinets at the grocery store.

So, is it as chaotic as the conservative media makes it appear? Not really. But is there a huge problem that the mainstream media seems to downplay? I feel the answer is yes.

30 sats \ 2 replies \ @south_korea_ln 3 Sep

Initially, based on personal experience and talking to many friends and family who live in Europe.

More recently, talking to a contact who is working at the EU level in Brussels and whose likely next job will be to combat propaganda on Twitter. He gave me a rudimentary rundown on how many of these channels operate and it seems to be quite orchestrated (language specific, keyword optimization, in response to current events for better reach,...). And it does not match reality. Yes, there is a large increase in immigration, yes, that comes with an increase in petty crime. Yes, some cities see an increase in drug related violence due to cartels fighting over control of certain areas. But no, people are not walking the streets in fear of getting gunned down by a cartel member or getting raped by an immigrant, because it really does not happen the level portrayed on Twitter. Also, it's extremely localized to very specific areas in the big cities which have always been hotspots for crime. It's very easy to pick a video from one of these events and amplify it to make it look like it happens everywhere.

I agree mainstream media is likely downplaying some of the problems, but Twitter is exaggerating it. And if i have to choose between these two extremes, i prefer the former as the latter clearly exacerbates it by pitching people against each other.

Incidentally, and anecdotally, that EU institution friend's wife works for Fedasil in Belgium. A Belgian agency responsible for the reception of asylum seekers. What she reports is misery and suffering on the migrant's side, with the "locals" being insulated from this misery. It's a them problem, not an us problem, for many Belgians. Belgians mostly keep living their life, with their own problems to worry about.

Just to be clear, i am not saying there are no problems. It's just not happening at the level and scale portrayed by those clickbait accounts that retweet the bots.

150 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 4 Sep

I think we're aligned on what's real and what's exaggerated

The only thing I'll add, and this might be considered honest advice to your friend, is that telling people that "statistically, they're wrong", doesn't help.

Every time I hear that statistically crime isn't up that much in Los Angeles, I get very frustrated because whether statistically it's up or not is besides the point in that I am experiencing greater crime, personally.

I would much rather hear someone say, "We hear you. Things are getting worse for people in some places, and we want to take that seriously. But if you are fearful of going out, please know that the incidents you see online are extremely rare and amplified to generate online controversy. This doesn't lessen our responsibility to make everyone feel safe, we just want everyone to have an accurate picture of the situation."

But much more common you just hear, "It's exaggerated" or "The statistics don't back that up"... which is just not helpful.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln 4 Sep

The only thing I'll add, and this might be considered honest advice to your friend, is that telling people that "statistically, they're wrong", doesn't help.

For sure. I don't think he does. His wife even less. They don't live in an ivory tower in the middle of EU-Brussels. She hands out soup in the parks of Brussels, where illegal immigrants gather before trying to make it to the UK (many don't want to apply in Belgium because applying in one EU country automatically voids your application in another one... and the UK is the end goal for many). She sees the misery firsthand. She sees the bad job politicians are doing at handling this immigration crisis. She also sees the good that other people are doing.

I would much rather hear someone say, "We hear you. Things are getting worse for people in some places, and we want to take that seriously. But if you are fearful of going out, please know that the incidents you see online are extremely rare and amplified to generate online controversy. This doesn't lessen our responsibility to make everyone feel safe, we just want everyone to have an accurate picture of the situation."

But much more common you just hear, "It's exaggerated" or "The statistics don't back that up"... which is just not helpful.

Very well put. I'll keep this advice at heart.

I agree, communication can make all the difference.

I don't know the US, so I can't speak for what is happening there. But in my biased, likely liberal, opinion, sending the military to handle the crisis will not solve the problem. I don't think Europe has gone that way, just yet, but I hope that's not how they will try to make people feel safer.

I believe social workers in problematic areas play a much more important, yet often invisible, role in addressing how people feel in certain areas and how immigrants can stay away from crime.

And fighting propaganda is critical in getting an accurate picture of the situation. Twitter is not where one will find such a picture.

Completely inappropriate segue: immigration is here to stay, much as the spam on BTC's blockchain. Filtering will not work. One has to figure out how to work/live with it and/or use it to one's advantage. Same as Korea, which will likely need immigration to counter the very low birthrate.