Scientists are pulling back from Twitter and looking for alternatives – By Karissa Bell (Engadget) / Aug 16, 2023
The brain drain comes as X has made it increasingly difficult for researchers to use its platform.
Earlier this year, Pew Research reported that a majority of US Twitter users reported spending less time on the platform since Elon Musk’s takeover last year. Now, new data suggests another important group of users are also pulling back from the service now called X.
More than half of scientific researchers who use Twitter report they’ve reduced the amount of time they spend there or have left altogether, according to a survey of thousands of scientists conducted by Nature. And nearly half of those polled said they’ve turned to alternative social networks like Mastodon
Of the 9,200 researchers polled, more than 47 percent said they had decreased their usage of the site, while nearly 7 percent reported quitting the site altogether. Notably, almost the same number said they had started an account on at least one new platform over the last year.
