Claudia BRAug 16, 2023
Luke Martell
Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, many citing Musk's policies. The most popular alternative for new social media accounts is Mastodon.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02554-0
#mastodon #twitter #elonmusk
Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, seeding angst and uncertainty

A Nature survey reveals scientists’ reasons for leaving the social-media platform now known as X, and what they are doing to build and maintain a sense of community.

Aug 16, 2023 at 10:55amWeb
Show threadTrump & Epstein: Biz partners.Aug 16, 2023

@lukemartell LAST OCTOBER, #Twitter's stock had plunged so much #Musk had it delisted from the NYSE so no one would know how much the company was actually worth anymore (and also stop the bleeding, preventing existing shareholders from continuing to sell off what's left.)

I've never seen anyone destroy a major corporation this quickly. I'd be stunned if the company is still worth a TENTH of what Musk paid for it. #BusinessJenius

Show threadTrump & Epstein: Biz partners.Aug 17, 2023
@lukemartell
If I were the head of #NASA, I'd be SERIOUSLY making contingency plans for if/when #Musk starts doing to #SpaceX what he's did to #Twitter. https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/15/23832701/elon-musk-lies-mark-zuckerberg-fight-creepy
Elon Musk keeps getting creepier

Elon Musk this week threatened to show up at Mark Zuckerberg’s house and challenge him to a fight, live streaming all the way. It’s the latest concerning behavior from the man above SpaceX, Tesla, and more.

The Verge
Show threadMark W WhiteAug 17, 2023

@MugsysRapSheet
I'd say that the relationship between Gwynne Shotwell and NASA is what's keeping things going. Shotwell basically runs everything day-to-day now after taking over Starbase from Musk last year. They’d be in more trouble without her than Musk (except his money).

The way Musk redirected Starlink's policy towards Ukraine must have given serious jitters. Bill Nelson accepted her personal reassurances over Twitter, but bet there's more behind the scenes.
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3771524-nasa-chief-spoke-with-spacex-official-about-musks-twitter-distraction/

NASA chief spoke with SpaceX official about Musk’s Twitter ‘distraction’

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he pulled aside the head of SpaceX to raise concerns about Elon Musk’s controversies at Twitter potentially affecting the space company. Nelson said he asked Gwynne Shotwell, the president and COO of SpaceX, earlier this month if controversy at Twitter would affect business at SpaceX, a crucial partner for NASA.…

The Hill
Show threadCoralie RenéeAug 16, 2023
@lukemartell then it's important to choose the right instances for yourself...
Show threadVolodymyrAug 16, 2023
@lukemartell I wonder when accounts or, better yet, instances will be open at least by large research and technology centers and projects #ESA #EOSC #NASA
Show threadDec [{()}]Aug 17, 2023
@volodymyr @lukemartell
In Ireland, @diasastronomy has a (closed membership) instance.
Show threadVolodymyrAug 17, 2023

@dec23k Really nice! I have some #astronomy colleagues in #días .

I expect that many instances like that will be private for members only (#EU one also does this) since it is not actually restricting their immersion in #fediverse.

In #switzerland educational institutions are supported by #switch who I could imagine to host a service.

And I keep hoping that some federated servers will come up in #EOSC marketplace.

Show threadDec [{()}]Aug 17, 2023
@volodymyr
There is more to DIAS than just astronomy, but it was easier to tag a profile than to paste a link to the instance.
Show threadVolodymyrAug 17, 2023
@dec23k I did not mean to say that there was not :)
Show threadDec [{()}]Aug 17, 2023
@volodymyr
:-)
Show threadLeonardoAug 25, 2023

@volodymyr @dec23k

I'm not aware of federated servers coming up in #EOSC (yet), but I can give some more info on National #Research and #Education Networks (#NRENs).

@SURF, the Dutch NREN (as SWITCH is for Switzerland) launched in February 2023 a Mastodon pilot for Research and Education in the Netherlands: https://www.surf.nl/en/mastodon-pilot-for-research-and-education

Also, different NRENs and RRENs, including the pan-European R&E Network @geant for which I work have now opened Mastodon profiles (e.g. @DFN and @nordunet)

Mastodon pilot for research and education

SURF and Universities of the Netherlands are jointly exploring Mastodon as an open source platform for education and research in the Netherlands.

SURF.nl
Show threadVolodymyrAug 25, 2023

@lmarino
that's interesting, I suppose this sort of network can certainly grow bottom-up, it does not need to start from #EOSC. I wonder, why don't they register in #EOSC marketplace for discoverability?

I just saw that #gitlab is advancing on implementing long-awaited #federated Merge Requests with #ActivityPub (https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/11247), it could be a boost for adoption.

Do you know if there are open academic #peertube servers? To share some open data.

@dec23k @SURF @geant @DFN @nordunet

Support ActivityPub for GitLab (#11247) · Epics · Epics · GitLab.org · GitLab

Gitlab/ActivityPub Design Documents by @oelmekki The goal of those documents is...

GitLab
Show threadLeonardoAug 28, 2023

@volodymyr

@SURF 's Mastodon pilot is indeed still in the pilot stage, so I suspect that similar considerations might be made at the end of the pilot period when they will evaluate and decide on any further service development.

Nice to hear about #gitlab, I didn't know about the latest developments!

@dec23k @surf @geant @DFN @nordunet

Show threadVolodymyrAug 28, 2023

I think it should be a lot less controversial for an organization to host a "read-only" (closed accounts, not subscribing to federation only publishing) #mastodon instance than an official account on #twitter, #youtube , etc which may end up treated unfortunately.

Such a #mastodon instance is a lot closer to an email server, RSS feed, or just a web-site.

But with ActivityPub it uses to publish content, it is just can be seen by a user just as a "normal" social network.

@lmarino @SURF @surf

Show threadLeonardoAug 28, 2023

@volodymyr

I'm also not aware of open academic #peertube servers, but I would be interested in knowing more.

Remaining in the NREN ecosystem, I know that the French NREN @renater publishes the recordings of its conference Journées RESeaux (JRES) on https://replay.jres.org/ which is powered by #PeerTube

@dec23k @SURF @geant @DFN @nordunet

Replay JRES

Archives vidéo des JRES

Show threadVolodymyrAug 28, 2023

The only think I know related is this https://tube.network.europa.eu/about/peertube

Research is clearly engaged with social networks, and I am not sure it is sustainable to keep using #youtube (who knows when something will happen to it, like it happened to #twitter .

State actors in Germany (e.g. @BMWK) and Netherland (@beheerder) are getting some pilot activities.

@lmarino @renater @dec23k @SURF @geant @DFN @nordunet

EU Video

EU Video is the official ActivityPub video platform of the EU institutions, bodies and agencies (EUIs). The pilot program contributes to the EU’s strategy for data and digital sovereignty to foster Europe’s independence in the digital world.

Show threadLeonardoAug 28, 2023

@volodymyr

Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

@BMWK @beheerder @renater @dec23k @SURF @geant @DFN @nordunet

Show threadNot A BirdAug 16, 2023
@lukemartell Only 7 percent of the surveyed left the platform. That is ridiculously low.
#TwitterMigration
Show threadBrennan StehlingAug 16, 2023
@lukemartell @TechDesk Education and scientific organizations should have their own Mastodon servers now with websites that list their profiles for verification with the WebFinger protocol. That would make them discoverable so peer review and discussion can continue without interference.
Show threadJames BenjaminAug 16, 2023
@lukemartell Hopefully I will seemore of you around.
Show threadKubixMAug 17, 2023
@lukemartell Vidim obrovskou aktvitiu na Mastodontovi, jen tak dal!🍿👍
Show threadMadisonMonkeyAug 17, 2023
@lukemartell love the #science folks here yay #scientists got my #climate list and my #covid list and just follow a few other cool folks too
Show threadArcticulateAug 17, 2023
@lukemartell 1/ My interpretation, after reading the article: scientists are disappointed that there is no longer one, big default go-to social media platform for science topics and one site’s hashtags to keep track of. I’m not a scientist myself, but: creating ad-hoc sub-communities within the domains of a public-company’s ad-supported service is a big risk in the long-term.
Show threadArcticulateAug 17, 2023
@lukemartell 2/ On top of that, a generic social media platform lacks an understanding of niche communities. For example: I assume it does not recognise DOI links as anything special. Citations of sources in social-media posts could probably be handled better in the context of validating statements. The search functionality is almost always simplified to the point where you cannot lookup info or do research on years-old posts by other scientists in a structured way.
Show threadArcticulateAug 17, 2023
@lukemartell 3/3 That’s why, in my humble opinion, it would be wise to consider the next ”universal” (to quote the article) platform to be one which allowed ways to extend the functionality to meet whatever criterias scientists wish for. Using an open-source alternative like Mastodon is one way to get there, unless the changes needed are too big to make it worthwhile.
Show threadDennisAug 17, 2023
@lukemartell now, if we could only get a more diverse user base here, madison might become something akin to the old twitter. From my (honestly limited) understanding, many people of color don't feel any safer here than Twitter.
Show threadTheBossRossAug 18, 2023
@lukemartell ... where unfortunately you can't find them.
Show threadLynne CotterAug 24, 2023
@lukemartell and now how do we all find each other?!