Speaker
Description
This lightning talk presents how ELIXIR’s social media strategy has evolved in the post-X landscape. It will outline concerns about maintaining visibility on X, lessons learned from a Mastodon trial, the potential for growth on Bluesky and the reasons we are prioritising LinkedIn. The talk aims to stimulate discussion on how research infrastructures can adapt their communication strategies in a volatile social media environment.
Since the change of ownership of X (formerly Twitter) in October 2022, many research organisations reassessed their use of the platform due to concerns over misinformation, reduced reach, misaligned values and shifting user base. Bluesky and Mastodon emerged as two of the main online platforms aiming to ‘replace’ X in science and technology domains. At ELIXIR, we trialled content on both Bluesky and Mastodon to see whether these platforms had the potential to fill the void.
This talk will share the results of these trials, the insights we gained into platform usage, and how we adapted the ELIXIR social media strategy to optimise engagement. It will consider the evidence that many former X users remain without a clear alternative, and what this means for developing communication approaches that remain effective when audiences shift and fragment.
