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Dear PRB,

The social media landscape is a confusing mess. Not so very long ago being on Twitter was enough. But now people are dispersing across the internet. There’s Bluesky Social, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Mastodon (and its many, many servers), Post, Threads, and TikTok, plus others I’m probably forgetting. Where should I go? What should I do?

Signed,

Dazed and Confused

_______________

Dear Dazed and Confused,

As a social media manager, believe me when I say that I feel your pain in trying to navigate this new world. What may help is trying to think less about where “everyone else” is going, and focusing more on what you want to gain from the experience.

Here’s our take on each of the platforms you mentioned:

Bluesky Social: We’ve noticed quite a few academics and journalists on Bsky.app, so if you want to connect with researchers around the world, it might be the right fit. Invitation code requirements limited growth, but that requirement was removed in February 2024. Also, while there are lots of great features on Bluesky, we’ve been unimpressed with the lack of a mechanism for reporting mis- and dis-information. And…no hashtags (as of February 2024).

Facebook: Facebook is for keeping tabs on people you knew in high school. You can share your work there, but it’s unlikely your academic colleagues will “friend” you. And that’s probably for the best.

Instagram: Does your research involve lots of photos, charts, or infographics? Do you like recording short informational videos from your car? Then Instagram might be right for you! Insta is great for sharing information, but “feeding the algorithm” with fresh visual content every day can be a full-time job.

LinkedIn: Are you on the job market? Do you want to learn about upcoming conferences and events? Do you want a place to share your latest publication? LinkedIn can be useful for all of those things.

Mastodon (and its many, many servers): So. Many. Servers. The learning curve for Mastodon has been described as being steep, but we didn’t find it much different than other microblogging sites. The biggest hiccup is that the server you start from can help (or hinder) your ability to connect with others. We’ve found population researchers have gravitated toward the sciences.social server, so if you’re going to give Mastodon a try, consider starting there.

Once you’re there, some fun features include: 500 character posts, hashtags galore, and chronological rather than algorithmic content in your feed.

Post: If you want a firehose of news to scroll through, Post is your place.

Threads: Threads is Meta’s answer to Twitter. The functionality is similar, with a couple of quirks. You can re-post, quote-post, and add images and GIFs to your threads. But you are limited to just one hashtag. Perhaps more notably, in attempt to limit the spread of mis- and dis-information, Meta has chosen to constrain hashtags. #COVID, for example, is not permitted.

TikTok: TikTok dance challenges can be fun! But the platform is banned by U.S. federal government agencies, so you can’t have TikTok installed on device(s) where you do any federally-funded work. (Yes. That includes removing TikTok from your mobile if you use that phone for work email.)

It probably wasn’t the right place for research anyway.

X: The site formerly known as Twitter is not what it used to be. Are people there? Sure. But key indicators—including website traffic, ad revenue, and active users—have all declined sharply. Also, changes to the algorithm to prioritize paid subscribers and sensational content can make it harder to reach other users.

Others: Yes… there are more. If you find the right niche, Redditt can be helpful for learning and for sharing information. Newsletter services like Medium and Substack are useful if you want to write longer-form content and/or to monetize your work. And there are probably more that we’re not thinking of. The landscape keeps changing, and we’ll keep you posted.

This article was written by Beth Jarosz, Senior Program Director in U.S. Programs at PRB.