Andy Tattersall

Chesterfield to Sheffield in a few seconds

View from top deck, front seat of a double decker bus looking out onto the road

After 24 years in the same job and probably last day in the office in Sheffield I decided to treat myself to a bus ride and grabbed the best seat.

I also talked about how communication team's resources are no doubt stretched in the current climate. So investing in new platforms is not always easy, but the way many have set up Threads and Bluesky accounts and not posted any info or direction notices is bizarre and in some cases poor.

3/3

To clarify my quotes with regards to reputational issues (which I don't think are clear in the piece). I think it's a reputational issue to stay active on X, and a reputational issue not to claim your organisational Bluesky handle (if you have a prefered one).

2/3

Nearly half of UK universities on Bluesky not posting - Research Professional News Despite migration from Musk’s X, universities take “watch-and-wait” approach on academics’ favoured platform

Nearly half of UK universities on Bluesky not posting

I spoke to Research Professional News about the data I had collated in relation to which universities had left X and who was active on Bluesky.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

1/3

All UK charities, universities, councils and govt departments should stop using promoting a website that deliberately promotes racism. #LeaveX

Nearly half of UK universities on Bluesky not posting - Research Professional News Despite migration from Musk’s X, universities take “watch-and-wait” approach on academics’ favoured platform

Bluesky is favoured by many academics - so why are universities taking a "wait-and-see" approach to it, despite migrating from X?

Latest analysis from @andytattersall.bsky.social, plus views on why many universities remain silent on Bluesky.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

a fireworks display with purple and green fireworks exploding in the night sky Alt: a fireworks display with purple and green fireworks exploding in the night sky

Apparently it is National Andrew Day. Much love to all my fellow Andrews - apart from Prince Andrew, Andrew Tate et al.

📣 NEW blog post: "Error vs. Deception: Unpacking the 'Why' of Retractions" - part 1.

In this post, our VP of #ResearchIntegrity, Dr Leslie McIntosh @mcintold.bsky.social, offers an update on the Taxonomy of Retractions, a freely available tool.

🔗 Find out more: fosci.substack.com/p/error-vs-d...

Agreed, after the initial few rushes, it seems to have quietened down.

@theguardian.com @timeshighered.bsky.social @resprofnews.bsky.social @lseimpactblog.bsky.social will be interested to know that a third of UK universities have ceased using X as a communications platform.

How apt. Thanks Terry, have added this to my ever growing spreadsheet

🔍 Trust in research is essential - but how do we build it?

This new blog post for @orcid.org co-authored by @sjcporter.bsky.social emphasizes how ORCID addresses the “two key dimensions of trust”. #ResearchIntegrity

👉 See the call to action for scholarly publishers: info.orcid.org/scholarly-pu...

So where has everyone gone? Notable research and associated organisations in the UK (including international with UK ties) on social media

Yes, they're on my datasheet, most jumped onto Bluesky about the same time
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

So where has everyone gone? Notable research and associated organisations in the UK (including international with UK ties) on social media

View the data for yourself

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

In terms of Threads, there appears to be 4 accounts with only UKRI actively posting. Wellcome started but ceased in 2023. Nuffield Foundation has labelled their Threads account as a placeholder & encourages visitors to their X account. Their last X post nudges visitors to Bluesky and LinkedIn.
5/6

For the 11 who have left the platform behind, they leave 600,000 combined followers, it's a big decision to give that up. Obviously many of the 600k will no longer be using X as well.

@wellcometrust.bsky.social have gained 11k Bluesky followers - so some way to reach the 210k they have on X.
4/6

That leaves @nihr.bsky.social @wellcometrust.bsky.social and @jrf-uk.bsky.social still active on X.

Only five of the 14 seem to have set up on @bsky.app with the aforementioned four funders doing so. The NIHR have not posted on Bluesky yet.
3/6

Out of the 14 I looked at - @nuffieldfoundation.org have actively said they have ceased posting on X. Another 10 have not posted on the platform for a few months, which is as good as saying goodbye. No doubt some will be still monitoring the platform for DMs and reputational issues.
2/6

Pulling the funding from X

Following my post about which UK universities had either ceased posting on or had left X, I thought I'd look at the funders.

1/6

Google’s shortened goo.gl links will stop working next month It’s time to change to a new URL shortener.

On August 25th, 2025, all links in the “https://goo.gl/*” format will no longer work and return a 404 error message.

Sigh. Breaking more of the web.

www.theverge.com/news/713125/...

One star Google review of the university

Somebody's not a fan

So where has everyone gone? Notable research and associated organisations in the UK (including international with UK ties) on social media

Pretty much every Threads account has had at least one post.

You can see the data here
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

You can update the data here

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Online version of the infographic
bit.ly/44TSIUQ
9/9

With regards to Threads, 4 out of 5 are on there, which is a small increase from 76% in February. Of the 118 accounts, just over 46% are active, the majority of the rest joined and ceased posting in 2023 and 2024. Unlike Bluesky where many have joined and not posted at all.
8/9

Out of the ones that have formally announced they have quit X, four Northern universities top the pile for letting go of the most followers. Almost 300k combined followers between the 4 of them with the University of Leeds leading almost 120k followers behind.
7/9

The University of Edinburgh has the biggest profile without posting. 1,834 followers but no pinned post, but thankfully a link to their institution. Some do not even have that.
6/9

They are listed in my Bluesky Starter Pack.
bsky.app/starter-pack...

Adding a bio and links takes a few minutes, it backs up that the institution is who is claims to be. Without that information it makes it harder to believe it is authentic, people are less likely to follow.
5/9

In terms of Bluesky, back in February, there were 90 accounts, of which 49 were active. It has slowly climbed to 55, and the number of inactive accounts have also grown from 39 to 43. Many of these have no bios, no posts, no links. We have to assume they are authentic.
4/9

Infographic showing the uptake and adoption of microblogging sites and which ones have quit X, or not engaged with Bluesky

Since I last looked nearly 6 months ago, 6 universities had actively quit X, now there are 14. Another 8 ceased posting updates in February, but had not actively said they had quit. Now that has risen to 32 accounts. That makes up for 46 universities out of 140, 32.9%. The scales are tipping.
3/9

No doubt they have invested what communications and resources they have into established social media platforms, LinkedIn, FB, Insta, TikTok. There is no guarantee these will stay viable platforms to communicate with multiple stakeholders, but for now they continue to work and have stability.
2/9