PHILIPPINE Normal University (PNU) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Vietnam's University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) held at the Rex Hotel Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Dec. 13, 2024. According to PNU President Bert Tuga, the accord signing was part of a series of activities conducted by the Association of Southeast Asian Teacher Education Network (AsTEN) in Vietnam. Register to read this story and more for free . Signing up for an account helps us improve your browsing experience. OR See our subscription options.What would you say at Twitter’s funeral? That’s the question my collaborators and I asked over 1,000 people on social media as part of a broader research project on Twitter migration . Responses ranged from the profane to the poetic, but one common theme was that despite its significant flaws, Twitter at its best was truly great ... until it wasn’t. “The world is a better place for it having existed, and a better place now that it’s gone.” “It takes so little to destroy so much.” “I will miss it for what it could be in its best moments, but I will be happy that we can finally move on to healthier spaces.” For many, it was time to leave in the hopes of finding greener pastures. Since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now branded as X, in October 2022, there have been reports of mass migration from the platform, and much ink was spilled – including some by me , a researcher who studies online communities – speculating where those users might land. The decentralized social network Mastodon attracted a lot of early attention , gaining a significant influx of users in the months following Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. In July 2023, Meta’s microblogging platform Threads gained 30 million users in its first day . Other Twitter alternatives appeared in 2023, some of which have chugged along with relatively small user bases, while others have already shut down . But these days, all the buzz seems to be about Bluesky . Bluesky was created in 2019 as a research project within Twitter led by then-CEO Jack Dorsey. It eventually severed ties with Twitter and became an independent company following Musk’s acquisition. The goal with Bluesky was to build a decentralized standard for social media that Twitter could eventually adopt. In that way, Bluesky is comparable to Mastodon in that they both allow for the creation of different servers that interact, and users can move their data and network between servers. But what does all this mean for your experience on Bluesky? If you are confused by – or just don’t care about – centralized versus decentralized social media, Bluesky won’t seem very different. It looks and feels a lot like Twitter. Nearly all of Bluesky currently operates from a single server, bsky.social, which means that you don’t have to choose a server when you sign up and your experience is contained there. Though Bluesky provides the option for users to host their own server and therefore store and control their own data, most users will experience what they’re accustomed to on traditional, centralized social media. My previous research on platform migration revealed how leaving a platform requires both a compelling reason and an immediate viable alternative. Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was a compelling reason for many users, and there have been a number of policy, design and cultural changes since that have compelled even more users to jump ship. As for an immediate alternative in November 2022, Mastodon had a significant head start because Bluesky hadn’t launched, and when it did in February 2023 it remained invitation-only for about a year. Threads didn’t launch until July 2023. Though Mastodon has a very dedicated user base, particularly among people who share a commitment to decentralization and user autonomy, there are a number of factors that have limited widespread adoption. My colleagues and I found that even among those on Mastodon, knowing how to find and join a specific server was the biggest challenge , and this has been enough of a barrier to keep many people off the social network entirely. Research on the migration of “Academic Twitter,” a broad community of academics connected on Twitter, also revealed that the decentralized structure of Mastodon created challenges for community building and sustained user engagement. Meanwhile, the U.S. election in November seems to have been the tipping point as a compelling reason to leave for many X users, along with terms of service changes regarding AI training. And it seems that at this moment there are other different “immediate viable alternatives.” Bluesky in particular saw huge growth in November , topping 20 million users, and at the time of this writing is still gaining several users per second . Though media and popular attention has been focused on Bluesky, Threads, which has nearly 300 million users, saw even more new sign-ups in November than Bluesky’s entire user base . Nevertheless, even Meta seems to be focused on Bluesky’s surge. It has scrambled to incorporate features into Threads that are selling points of Bluesky, such as customizable feeds. Perhaps Bluesky’s growth is particularly impressive – and therefore threatening to Meta – because it occurred essentially by word of mouth. In contrast, Threads has an absolutely enormous advertising platform: Instagram. Not only can Threads users simply use their existing Instagram accounts, but Meta has also started pushing Threads posts to Instagram. So when considering these three major Twitter alternatives – Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads – Bluesky’s moment actually makes a lot of sense to me. It feels less corporate than Meta’s Threads, and so it represents an alternative to Big Tech platforms controlled by billionaires. It also appeals to people who believe in the vision of decentralized social media or who want the option to control their data. But at the same time, the user experience is nearly identical to familiar, traditional social media, and it addresses some of the challenges identified with Mastodon, such as the learning curve for choosing a server. A surge in creation and use of starter packs on Bluesky – curated lists of people to follow – have also accelerated the creation of community and social networks. And the sudden buzz around the platform all at once has created momentum for entire former Twitter communities, such as Academic Twitter , to partially reconstitute themselves. Despite my optimism for the continued growth of Bluesky, I don’t think there will ever be a “new Twitter .” Social media fragmentation is here to stay, and many people are very happy on Threads or Mastodon or even smaller alternatives capitalizing on the latest X exodus . And X itself has over 600 million active monthly users . These platforms all provide something different, with different communities and priorities, and none will be the best option for everyone. Moreover, as Bluesky continues to grow, it will inevitably face many of the same problems that Twitter did even when the platform was perceived as being at its greatest. But for those who were hoping to “move on to healthier spaces” after attending Twitter’s funeral, there are multiple doors open for them. This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Casey Fiesler , University of Colorado Boulder Read more: Casey Fiesler's social media migration research was supported in part by the NSF IIS grant "RAPID: Documenting and understanding large-scale migrations between social media platforms." She is also a content creator and has been paid through Meta for her content on Instagram and Threads.
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Former US Open champion who won £21million in career earnings says life has turned into ‘never-ending nightmare’As President-elect builds out his , one nominee has emerged as a potential favorite of Democrats — and a headache for Republicans. Trump announced last month that he's nominating Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a first-term Republican who just lost a tough reelection fight in a Democratic-leaning Oregon district, to serve as his Secretary of Labor. Unlike most Republicans, she's positioned herself as an ally of labor unions, has co-sponsored major Democratic pro-union bills, and has earned the backing of some prominent labor leaders ahead of her Senate confirmation battle next year. "Oftentimes, you'll get a nominee out of a Republican administration who has had an anti-labor record," said Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. "Her track record would suggest she could be a good advocate." Chavez-DeRemer is one of just three House Republicans who've cosponsored the PRO Act, a that would override state-level "right-to-work" laws that Republicans have long supported while strengthening workers' ability to form unions. She was also one of just eight House Republicans to cosponsor a separate bill that would guarantee public-sector employees the right to organize. "I've only heard good things," said Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. "She's a supporter of the PRO Act, and that's like the holy grail of labor." Several Democratic senators have offered conditional praise for Chavez-DeRemer, indicating that they're willing to support her nomination if she commits to strengthening labor unions in her new position. Meanwhile, many Republicans are declining to weigh in on her support for pro-labor legislation, saying they'd like to meet with her first. But a handful of them, particularly those who are more supportive of right-to-work laws, have publicly expressed reservations about her. Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, that he needed a "better understanding of her support for Democrat legislation in Congress that would strip Louisiana's ability to be a right to work state, and if that will be her position going forward." "I don't know her, don't really know much about her record, other than what I've read," said Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. "Some of those things she supports would give me some concern." A spokesperson for Chavez-DeRemer told BI that she would reserve comment on her nomination out of respect for the confirmation process, but that she looks forward to advancing the Trump administration's policies. Chavez-DeRemer's nomination comes as the GOP's relationship with labor has begun to shifted, with self-styled populists like Sens. JD Vance of Ohio and Josh Hawley of Missouri to take a more worker-friendly approach than it has before. And in recent years, organized labor and labor unions have enjoyed a bipartisan . Fetterman argued that it was "smart" for Trump to nominate Chavez-DeRemer, given the drift of union voters into the GOP in recent elections. "I think that means that he's making a move to continue to grab even more votes out of the unions," said Fetterman. But Chavez-DeRemer won't have singular power of labor policy in America, and Trump's appointees to the National Labor Relations Board will likely be especially consequential for . Biden's NLRB — which weighs in on labor-related cases and can investigate different labor disputes — has, among other labor-friendly moves, that are unlawful and set new precedents making it . By contrast, Trump's NLRB took including organizers's abilities to leaflet at employers' property and restricting areas where union organizers could be. "Donald Trump has not exactly been an ally of working families and and labor. So if she's confirmed, we'll see how she does," said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who said he wanted to make sure his fellow Oregonian got a "fair shake" in her confirmation hearings. "I'll be listening closely to her testimony." In a statement offering conditional praise for Chavez-DeRemer, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts argued that Chavez-DeRemer's nomination offers an "early test" of whether Trump will "stand strong with workers or bow down to his corporate donors and the Republican establishment's opposition." "If Republican Senators block Trump's labor nominee for standing with unions, it will show that the party's support for workers is all talk," said Warren. Hawley, who supports Chavez-DeRemer's nomination, said that her confirmation will indeed be a "test of whether or not the party is going to follow this president on his agenda for labor and for workers." For now, many Republicans appear to be in wait-and-see mode — and a GOP desire to show party unity could help keep Republican support from cratering. "My bias is supporting President Trump in staffing his administration with the people he wants around him," said Johnson. "I don't support the PRO Act. I think the PRO Act is not good policy," said Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. "But I'll assess every nominee on the merits." Read the original article on
