Yes, please do! As more journalists and ‘influencers’ move from the other place, the message may get through to social media tycoons that toxic algorithms need to be replaced with tools that build communities instead of break them.
Yes, we really need journalists to start posting on Bluesky like they do on Twitter so that we can read and share them here instead of on Musk’s propaganda site.
I’m following you over here. I loved your Covid analytics and general data presentation; I use your work in explaining to colleagues how to use and present data.
You're one of the few I have alerts set up for on twitter (along with the newsagents et al), seems like a split between Threads and BlueSky. Wish you'd all come to a consensus :D
But Zucks rebranding has been so good! 😂 I’m still on FB, use IG, and Quest, soo 🤷♂️
Sticking with mastodon for uber nerdy stuff, and threads for the Twitter alternative.
BlueSky just doesn’t seem great? But I joined very early, had missing functionality and seemed like a really bizarre circlejerk
excellent, and while I'm here - thank you. Thank you for writing regualry about covid, for those of us who are part of a household at risk, it's invaluable. Seeing as the government can't be bothered about us.
Your threads are brilliant and are pretty much the core of most of my dinner party chat. Not that I go to many.
I’m sure those two points aren’t connected.
Hi John, yes I decided to leave yesterday for much the same reason plus the offensive behaviour of that site's owner. I don't see why I should help keep him rich.
Glad to have you here! In case it’s of interest, I run a curated #dataviz feed. If you’d like your posts to show up in it, just let me know and I’m happy to add you to the user list.
So a ‘test balloon’ is a tweet that appears on the ‘For You’ feed that is inserted there to test your reactions to potentially triggering topics. If you respond (like, scroll through the thread), then you will see more of the same but a little bit more extreme/triggering.
I never looked at "For you" because it normally seemed to be mainly RW dross. Occasionally it would select it without me selecting it and I'd wonder why my twitter had gone so weird until I realised!
Bluesky users need to post here first, then use twitter to direct followers to this platform with a 'new post on Bluesky' message. If we all try not to engage in debate or conversation on twitter, we can collectively shift our communities to this place.
Well done. It's those like yourself who have built a platform on the other place who need to be brave and move, that will bring the audience. I get it's hard but it's not starting from scratch. It's a moral obligation at this point.
Ive had to take the same action, hopefully none of that cesspit spills out here. Seeing plenty photos of nature, animals, astronomy and data charts... feels promosing!
I really want to delete my account, I came close to it this morning. However maybe I'm currently fuelled on optimism that Trump is going to loose in November and I'd like to be able to watch the reaction to that unfold in real time on Twitter.
We need more journos and media on here...providing the site is administered properly to keep out the nutjobs and racists.
I'm transitioning from Twitter. Been impressed so far
There is a school of thought that it’s better to stay there and not let him win. But if he starts fomenting rioting and criticising governments about which he knows nothing, and it’s clear that he bought Twitter for just that reason, then staying there is untenable. Thank you for coming here.
Yes - it's very difficult. I hate to let him win too, but his later comments are really a step too far. But the more people like John who come over to this site - the more I will use it too. It just needs a bit more critical mass!
While I agree with the latter, I'm pretty confident he never meant to actually buy it. As he believed it was a left wing plot to harm the right, he figured offering to buy it would force them to reject the offer, and he'd be able to go "this proves it!" and right wingers would cheer him etc.
Welcome! It’s just healthier Twitter and more accessible than Mastodon. Tribel would have been another candidate but this does the job and has way less junk and bots atm.
I think a combination of that and its utility in getting on-the-ground reports from eyewitnesses out of places during crises, which dovetailed very neatly with the journalist presence. I think Bluesky's lack of algorithm promotes organic conversations but hinders the corporate promotion side tho.
I get the impression that if you're chiefly in "broadcast" mode it looks broadly fine. It's if you want to engage _in particular, especially political, subjects_ that it's deeply broken. Twitter sub-communities on football and cats and stuff are probably okay.
I've curated my feed within an inch of its life so that I only get britpol takes and fanart but it does feel a bit like living in the Green Zone at times. A mate retweets a witty comment, I click through to the replies and it's an unmitigated open sewer.
Finance Twitter suffered badly since a lot of the funnier and more insightful people left and the algorithm seems to promote the grifters. There's still intelligent and interesting stuff on there, but there's a lot more low quality chaff to sort through.
There's also https://shareopenly.org which you can embed on your site instead of the NASCAR badges and it remembers which you have used. I have a bookmarklet version.
Yeah, plus are you aware of custom feeds on here? It's a really nice Bluesky feature, big fan of this one that shows posts from people who don't post a lot, so you don't miss them.
I know it is not easy for those who earn/justify their living in part from being visible on social media. But the excuse for continuing to provide content for an openly fascist site, and legitimising that site in the process, is getting weaker and weaker.
(It’s very hard to break muscle memory after fifteen years also there are too many egos built on large Twitter follower counts that make journalists feel like they might actually matter. Probably needs a non-journalist to make news on here for the migration to happen.)
What about principle though, surely it’s impossible now to separate the medium (Musk racist, antisemitic, conspiratorial, Trump supporting) from the message? Are journalists not having anguished crises of ethics over this? Are editorial boards not willing to push them to something else?
Until about 3 weeks ago. Despite serious degradation of the quality of my news feed since Musk took over it was still the best for getting a very diverse range of tech news/opinions/blogs.
Now it’s just fucked. All is see is right wing shit or videos from Gaza.
What has really struck me over the week is when I'm fed a controversial tweet & click on it to see all the anon replies/blue tick engagement farming, I'm really left wondering how many "real people" are actually engaging with it.
I know the data is scarce, but seems ripe for one of your deep dives.
This worked for me for finding people https://www.wikihow.com/Import-Twitter-to-Bluesky. I used the Firefox version of "Sky Follower Bridge" extension. For whatever reason in the Extensions market place the text is in Japanese for me, but in operation it's English so could use it.
Great! You're just the man to explain about Bitcoin here. I imagine it to be a currency like dragons' gold, which exists only in hidden hoards and can only be carried away and changed into real things if you have secret knowledge.
Good. Increasingly, journalists posting exclusively to the other place will be associated with Space Karen's right wing extremism. I see boycotts looming.
Great. You were one of the reasons I kept looking back there. I hope there's a critical mass of the FT vis/data team here now to make this the place to look for your collective perspectives.
Comments
Sticking with mastodon for uber nerdy stuff, and threads for the Twitter alternative.
BlueSky just doesn’t seem great? But I joined very early, had missing functionality and seemed like a really bizarre circlejerk
I'm on mastodon too, and it has no ads and little hate.
(Your work on excess deaths in Covid was brill)
I’m sure those two points aren’t connected.
#dataviz 📊
Also, remember The Bluesky Way: Don't give trolls even a crumb of engagement, block/mute early and often.
Fragmented alternatives strengthens the Twitter position.
Everything that is being posted there remains there and is not available outside X. Similar to #facebook.
They are an intranet. A closed network.
The main reason is that there is masturbating over numbers. Nothing else. X is for marketing jugglers ...
I'm transitioning from Twitter. Been impressed so far
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:oazod3zfweyhy4cmyoa4yxqv/lists/3kdllw2rpqc2s
The most common Feed is named „Followers“, you can search for feeds, too and pin them (like tabs in your bluesky homepage).
I like the „pin“ feed 😉
But also sadly still the best way to get a certain type of news story out to a certain type of audience. So still have hope for this place!
(It’s very hard to break muscle memory after fifteen years also there are too many egos built on large Twitter follower counts that make journalists feel like they might actually matter. Probably needs a non-journalist to make news on here for the migration to happen.)
Now it’s just fucked. All is see is right wing shit or videos from Gaza.
No nuance at all...!
I know the data is scarce, but seems ripe for one of your deep dives.
Suggest you regularly broadcast your Bluesky handle in the other place, and encourage people to try it!