Earlier this month, Reuters announced that universities across the UK are increasingly joining the many academics who have already left or significantly scaled back their use of the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. Concerns over the spread of misinformation on the platform since its purchase by Elon Musk in 2022, and increasingly lowered engagement with content, are the primary reasons offered for moves away, a survey of over 150 higher education institutions found.
Working in the communications team at Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South London, a research organisation working to improve health and care services, such issues are all too familiar to me. Organisations like ours join social media platforms to have a public facing space for the sharing of evidence-based knowledge, compiled and disseminated in a considered fashion. A platform with an algorithm that has come to favour the most sensational content, promoting these posts to user timelines and driving ‘rage-engagement’, does not square well with this. Our feed is awash with organisations and individuals announcing their departure to other platforms on a daily basis, and with good reason.
ARC South London is one of 15 applied research collaborations across the UK funded by the National Institute of Health and Care research (NIHR). Nine out of 15 of these collaborations have encouraged their followers to find them on Bluesky, the new social media site created by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, that resembles both in look, usability and feel, an earlier, decidedly friendlier version of Twitter.
“For a decade, Twitter was our primary social media channel at ARC West,” says Zoe Trinder-Widdess, Head of Communications at ARC West, the first ARC to join Bluesky, and Bristol Biomedical Research Centre. “We are in a different place now. While we aren’t leaving the platform completely yet, we are now focusing more on LinkedIn and Bluesky. The latter has potential to become our primary social media account."
I have already closed my personal Twitter account (I still refuse to call it X!), but ARC West are still on there for now. Although our followers are going down, we still have around 10,000 and that’s a lot to walk away from. We do still get good engagement on our posts, although our Bluesky engagement is starting to match it. So, we are keeping a watching brief and are nurturing our other channels.
Abandoning a following nurtured and grown over several years does pose challenges. Prior to joining ARC South London, I used Twitter mainly in a personal capability as a person with lived experience of mental and physical illness. I grew an engaged, thoughtful following largely made up of others navigating their own chronic illness, who supported each other through a rich exchange of knowledge, advice and words of encouragement. Making the decision to leave the site earlier this year because I could no longer support its leadership meant losing that, and raised concerns about where (and if) these online relationships would find a new home.
Fear of disconnect and feelings of loss may be particularly heightened for those of us who have struggled previously to find spaces where we feel safe and heard, but who did, at least for a time, find an important online one on Twitter. We do a disservice to the role of research organisations, charities, trusts and policy-informing bodies if we do not remember that they play a role within these, particularly where patient and public involvement is a significant part of the mission.
Yes, there are other social media platforms we can relocate to, but finding an unproblematic host not ruled by the inclinations of big personalities seems increasingly difficult. Meta, the company who owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, recently announced that they would be getting rid of fact checking as well as terminating its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, effective immediately. And just this month, the Supreme Court held up a decision to ban TikTok in the USA. The site was down for a matter of hours before being restored with the accompanying message: “Welcome back! Thanks for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!” How do we find sustainable social media locations under these circumstances?
In many ways, Bluesky may look like the most promising contender. A decentralised platform designed to not be controlled by a single company, whose number of users has soared between November 2024 (7.85 million) and present (30 million). By the time the ARC South London account had just 200 followers, average engagement had already began to equal what our following of over ten times that on X currently receives, an experience repeatedly reported by those moving to Bluesky. There is a significant amount of hope, goodwill and positive energy being directed towards this app, which has cultivated a convivial and socially progressive atmosphere reminiscent of the Twitter of 2012.
But while those working in academia or communications may be becoming increasingly familiar with Bluesky, it is still far from a household name. And frustratingly for those who like their social media machines well oiled, the site is growing at a faster rate than it can be maintained and developed. This can mean you have to use external sites, and – perish the thought – maybe even do some coding, if, for instance, you want to see your engagement statistics. But perhaps the biggest threat to the platform’s longevity is the much-expressed uncertainty as to whether the ‘Bluesky honeymoon period’ can last.
As Zoe puts it: “To me, Bluesky feels how Twitter did a decade ago. A place where like-minded people can have open and supportive discussions. I’m sure the trolls will come, but for now, it’s a good place to be.”
So, what does the year ahead look like? Could 2025 remind us of the power of the newsletter? Some in communications have come to view these as a little clunky and old-fashioned, but in these turbulent times, being able to directly share your research output with your audience cannot be understated. Perhaps, for now, the solution is to diversify and hold our platforms a little more loosely, even if this can come with in a feeling of rootlessness or fatigue when yet another platform either decreases in popularity, or, more distressingly, becomes out of step with our own values.
In such a climate, reminding followers they can connect on multiple platforms, whilst signposting to spaces that may currently feel more tangible and secure, such as webinars, online events and workshops, may just be the best way to continue to foster meaningful digital engagement and exchange of ideas. Fundamentally, social media platforms lose their power when organisations, creators and their communities are not entirely dependent on any one single space to share their messages, knowledge and vision.
And yes, you can subscribe to the ARC SL newsletter here or connect with us on Bluesky.