@mikelove Grad student here.

I think on Twitter, I never felt like I could interact with big names. I just watched them talk to each other and didn't feel like I could jump in with a question or comment.

@mikelove 👋

I agree with @emiller - Twitter feels more public (especially to senior academics with thousands of followers), and (from my experience), they feel reluctant to engage with trainees/grad students.

So far, my experience here has been the opposite, though - and I like that. For me, it's never been about promoting work (I have nothing to promote anyway), but I'm hoping to get insight + pointers from senior academics (which I was hoping I'd find at Twitter, and that was disappointing).

@mikelove Post about papers, blogs and repos you are reading. What made Science Twitter useful for me as a grad student (and now as a postdoc) was that it puts research in front of me from outside of my own citation graph, and provides some context for why someone would care about it.

Treat this space as an always-open journal club.

@mikelove I'll boost and interact with posts based on content, not on seniority. I think many others do the same.

I'll especially boost #introduction and interesting #question #toots by #gradstudents to promote them. Keep them coming!

@mikelove I’m here (not STEM, but grad student).

Number one need from senior academics: you have to reblog us. ESPECIALLY when we’re critiquing the system. There’s no algorithm for likes. Our ability to disrupt hierarchy and make connection on the bird site was partially due to its leveling/visibility effects. That is harder to establish here.

@mikelove Postdoc here. In general I suspect I will use this platform pretty much the same way I found Twitter useful: as a venue to hunt people down, compliment them when I see their work and like it, and try to strike up conversations.

The thing that I find most frustrating about Mastodon is that finding people is relatively difficult. I would love to see more people tagging one another into conversations and widening our networks by, well, introducing us to one another.

@mikelove I'm a MSc student, and I'd love to connect with other students!

Another thing I would appreciate, is people talking about research... But I don't mean the "sciency" part of it, I mean the "how to survive in academia" part. I know PhD students may struggle a lot with depression and me being a MSc student who still needs to decide whether I'd like to do research or not in the future, I'd like to know why are they struggling so much. What are the issues? What are the problems that often professor don't talk us about? What is it really like to be a researcher?

I'd love to read stories and open discussions about it

@mikelove I’m a graduate (MA) student currently applying for doctoral programs.

Not sure what makes the space useful yet, just weighing in!

@mikelove

love this post and look forward to hearing what students say.

not in academia but have/do mentor junior folks from different fields.

I've started followinga few grad students but definitely no where near i did on birdie because haven't done the task of looking for them here

@mikelove I'm a postdoc (cancer genomics).

Personally, the thing I want most from this app isn't necessarily a venue to promote myself, or to be exposed to other early career researchers' work specifically.

I want to keep up what is important and driving conversation in my field. Maybe that means elevating early career researchers' works, but to me that is secondary to just knowing what more tapped-in people than me are talking about.

@mikelove As I move towards career independence, developing a stronger network with my peers and colleagues within human genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, etc. and gaining visibility is a key goal for my social media presence.

I’ve also learned a lot about hidden processes and skills in academia and elsewhere from people across all career stages.

Finally, as someone with commitments to and experience in equity/inclusion work, the reach and engagement online is helpful for pushing change.