The Astrosky Ecosystem: An independent online platform for science communication and social networking

While almost everything that astronomers study occurs in the vacuum of space, astronomy itself does not `happen in a vacuum'. Interactions between scientists, as well as outreach to members of the public, improve extensively from access to good communication tools. Social media has become a key tool for communication in astronomy, being widely used by individuals and organizations alike for networking, outreach, and more. However, traditional social media is reliant on benevolent corporations providing a free service without compromising on quality, and the recent takeover and decline of Twitter has shown how vulnerable these platforms can be. In this proceeding, we present The Astrosky Ecosystem, which is an initiative to develop open-source tools and integrations for social media, principally the Bluesky social network. We explain how our project enables the astronomy community to operate its own social media infrastructure, independent of for-profit corporations. We also discuss some of the project's technical aspects, including its use of the AT Protocol for social networking, before concluding with ideas for the future.

Growing the Social Web

I'm going to be participating in the Growing the Open Social Web workshop at Fediforum on March 2, 2026. I'm excited to talk to other people who care about the Fediverse about ways to connect more people through ActivityPub. Fediforum invited attendees to publish position papers before the workshop. SWF has a number of hypotheses…

Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky

Synopsis Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For the past decade, Twitter has been a primary home of scientists on social media. In recent years, new leadership at Twitter has made substantive changes that have resulted in increases in the prevalence of pseudoscience, conspiracy theory, and harassment on the platform, causing many scientists to seek alternatives. Bluesky has been suggested as a good alternative to Twitter, but the phenomenon of academics switching social media platforms has not previously been studied. Here we report on the results of a survey distributed to scientists on Twitter and Bluesky (n = 813). Results overwhelmingly confirm that changes to Twitter have made the social media platform no longer professionally useful or pleasant, and that many scientists have abandoned it in favor of Bluesky. Results show that for every reported professional benefit that scientists once gained from Twitter, scientists can now gain that benefit more effectively on Bluesky than on Twitter.

📄 For You by @spacecowboy17.bsky.social

Same as For You, but only posts linking to scientific papers. https://foryou.club

The Astrosky Ecosystem

We're building social media tools for the astronomy & space science communities. From feeds to hosting, we're billionaire-proofing scientific discussion for good.

Sensemaking Networks: Project Introduction - Cosmik Labs

Incorporating science social media into the scientific process

Victoria (@vicwalker.dev.br)

• QA Architect • Community Moderator • +30 yo • Português • English • Español • Français (un peu) 🇧🇷 🏳️‍🌈 ☭ ⁂ 🍉 🎗 🚂 Icon by @alphajn.bsky.social Atmosphere: https://linkat.blue/did:plc:fip3nyk6tjo3senpq4ei2cxw Tags: #Blog • #BskyTips • #Cupom

FediForum | Growing the Open Social Web un-workshop, 2026/03/02