idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The Mastodon and Bluesky news services are being expanded as channels for University and science communications.
The University of Freiburg is discontinuing its central communication on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. At the same time, the University will continue to expand its presence on Mastodon, which has existed since 2021, and will soon also communicate on Bluesky. The University is closely monitoring the development of various social media channels and continuously checks whether they are in line with its orientation, its mission and the needs of its target groups. The changes that can be observed on X are a cause for concern in this regard and have made the withdrawal necessary.
For some time now, there has been an increase in the dissemination of content that glorifies violence and is anti-democratic, among other things, on the social media platform X. At the same time, the moderation of such content has declined significantly. In addition, X has increasingly lost reach and functionality for University and science communications. Developments related to the current formation of the government in the United States have added new problematic dimensions to the platform. ‘The University of Freiburg's withdrawal underlines its commitment to fact-based communication and to democratic values that promote diversity, freedom and science,’ says Prof. Dr Kerstin Krieglstein, rector at the University of Freiburg. The decision was preceded by an intensive review. However, the members of the University of Freiburg are of course free to choose whether they wish to remain active on X. ‘As an institution, we see the opportunities to strengthen diversity of opinion-forming and fact-based exchange as better served by other channels,’ says Krieglstein.
The University of Freiburg will soon be expanding its presence on the short message service Bluesky with its topics from University and science communications. In addition, the University will also be increasingly represented on the Mastodon platform. Since June 2021, it has built up the account there with the second-highest number of followers among German universities. The University will continue to closely monitor the development of the Meta Group's Facebook and Instagram platforms, including their handling of fact-checking, following Meta's recent announcements, and will continue to assess them for compatibility with its communication goals and values.
#eXit
Universität Freiburg
Criteria of this press release:
Journalists
interdisciplinary
transregional, national
Organisational matters
English
#eXit
Universität Freiburg
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