Researchers Searching for Alternatives to Twitter
New data indicates that in addition to the majority of US Twitter users who reported reduced usage after Elon Musk’s control, another significant group of users is now withdrawing from the platform, which has been renamed X.
More than half of the scientific researchers who use Twitter report that they have reduced the time they spend there or have left altogether, according to a survey of thousands of scientists by Nature. And nearly half of those surveyed said they’ve turned to alternative social networks like Mastodon
Of the 9,200 researchers surveyed, more than 47 percent reported reducing their use of the site, while nearly 7 percent reported stopping the site altogether. In particular, almost the same number reported that they had opened an account on at least one new platform in the past year.
Of these, Mastodon, which has seen significant growth since Musk took over Twitter, was the most widely used. About 47 percent of the researchers reported that they had started using an open source platform in the last year. LinkedIn and Instagram were the next most popular, with 35 and 27 percent of researchers. Interestingly, Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, came in at number four, despite the app being released just days before Nature conducted the survey.
As with previous data from Pew, Nature’s findings suggest that Twitter use has declined among those who were once active on the platform. It also highlights how much Twitter’s dynamic has changed over the past year.
Twitter, as nature points out, has historically been an important platform for researchers and scientists. It has been used to publicize research and promote scientific discussion. And Twitter researchers have served as an important source of authoritative information on a platform that has long struggled to combat misinformation. Twitter has also been a valuable source of information for countless researchers studying everything from public health to linguistics.
But much of that has now changed. Many users now feel their voices are being silenced by a platform that prioritizes paid verified content. And the company has made its API for researchers so expensive that most can no longer use it. So while not all of the scientists who spoke to Nature were ready to abandon Twitter entirely, it seems that the company’s tactics have alienated a large part of the scientific community.
X did not respond to a request for comment.
