It remains unseen that Twitter is on a declining trend since many Bluemark users are still patronizing the platform. Going to Mastodon or other microblogging sites can be a viable option in case you want to get out of this hell hole.
For academics, it's now the right time to look for a Twitter alternative since the company is now urging them to delete their data for research. If they don't do that, they will be forced to pay a monthly fee of $42,000 just to have API access.
Twitter Wants Researchers to Delete Their Data
When Elon Musk replaced Jack Dorsey as the Twitter CEO last year, many people believed that the platform would bloom into a very useful social media site. However, this did not sit well with others, including the experts who raised concerns about the Twitter research data.
During Musk's era, we have seen a lot of anomalies that unexpectedly happened, including glitches and outages.
For academics, it's high time to be more vigilant when using Twitter data, especially now that Elon Musk demands them to delete their historical data. If they don't want it to occur, the least they can do is to pay Twitter a $42,000-a-month contract-something like a "book burning" scheme.
According to 9to5Mac, the researchers should decide by the end of the month between the two options. In another report by iNews, those academics who disagree with signing the new contract should entirely erase all of the Twitter data in the storage and data cache.
For this part, Twitter wants to verify if they actually do the removal of the Twitter data on the system. In doing so, the researchers will be required to screenshot all the possible evidence that they have already expunged the data within 30 days after the deal.
"The changes to the Twitter API are having catastrophic effects on our research into the spread of disinformation and its harms, the manipulation of social media, and the vulnerability of people and platforms to online abuse," said Filippo Menczer, director of the Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University [...]
No Free Speech on Twitter
Washburn University's assistant professor of mass media, Matthew Nyquist, said that nothing has changed in his tweeting behavior after Musk acquired Twitter. However, it was on November 13, 2022, when he discovered that he was restricted in liking and retweeting.
When he found out that Twitter did not explain why he was sanctioned, he concluded that free speech "never wins" on the platform.
In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, Nyqist said that after Twitter slapped him with a restriction, he went to other microblogging sites like Mastodon to seek new communities.
More Academics Are Going to Mastodon
Since the controversial acquisition of Twitter, many researchers have moved to other Twitter-like sites that provide a "safe space" for everyone.
Casey Fiesler, an associate professor of information science at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said that she's now spending more time on Mastodon than Twitter. She added that the place was perfect for talking with other academics and even non-academics.
Aside from Mastodon, other academics are also exploring Hive Social as a Twitter replacement. However, some encountered issues when transferring to another platform, including mistaking the fake Hive site as a legit platform.
