The ongoing crisis in the universities (high levels of actual & potential job losses) have engendered relatively little public outcry.
For years, I argued that universities (including my own) should do a much better job of civic engagement (bridging the 'town and gown' divide, as it were);
this failing has left universities with fewer friends to argue their case nationally than other sectors - from health to steel manufacturing.
Universities have been too aloof.
Great talk by #ayajaff on #Palantir , the #boomerang theory, #boarderlab & the #LexPalantir at the #republica26 #rp26
And she mentiones the important parts of many #universities in this #industrialmilitarycomplex
And in fact numerous universities in #Europe have started on #Mastodon
👉 mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
👉 mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
👉 mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
which we can also recommend for #universities in the #USA.
Many of them also left the platform #X,
which has helped a lot to bring the political discourse back to facts instead of being full of hatress and bullying.
#Autocrats have no arguments that’s why they rely on „social“ media out of control.
#Democracy prefers the #fediverse
Come on and join #Unis4Mastodon
Hints for newcomers from @Bibliothecaris: rug.nl/library/news-events/soc…
Listen von Mastodon-Accounts von z.B. Universitäten, Forschungseinrichtungen etc. Erstellt mit Daten von Wikidata.mastodon-listen.playground.54gradsoftware.de
As early as 2 years ago, many people in #Germany and #Europe felt that #BigTech ’s internet platforms did not live up to the claim of being #socialmedia. Many were appalled by the #hatespeech, #incitement, #cyberbullying, and #disinformation being spread there.
Our action alliance first reached out to #universities to propose withdrawing from #X and adopting #Mastodon. We believe the #Fediverse platforms are much better suited for #SciComm or, more broadly, for substantive discourse aimed at protecting and preserving our #democracy. Other initiatives have since emerged, such as #ByeByeElon, #HelloQuitX, #LeaveX, and #SaveSocial.
We’ve already seen some initial success: around 150 #academic institutions in Germany are active on Mastodon and have +157k followers there
👉 mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
We believe this is an approach we can also recommend to the #research and #academic communities in the #US to fend off attacks from #autocrats .
Listen von Mastodon-Accounts von z.B. Universitäten, Forschungseinrichtungen etc. Erstellt mit Daten von Wikidata.mastodon-listen.playground.54gradsoftware.de
Universities 1:
There are a range of factors in the crisis engulfing British universities:
Political decisions (from students as immigrants to Brexit's impact on research networks);
A dysfunctional funding model that has instrumentalised education;
Rubbish management (including growing pay disparities between staff & top management); and
Metric based regulation (in teaching & research).
The cumulative result is the crisis we see.
#universities #education #politics
blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocial…
The HE sector in the UK faces the prospect of a university going into administration. How have universities fallen so low and is change possible?Taster (LSE Impact)
Update. The Trump admin is demanding a list of Jewish faculty, staff, and students at UPenn.
theguardian.com/us-news/2026/j…
Trump's #EEOC asked for the list last July. Penn refused, and the EEOC sued the university in November. What's new is that several groups just filed a motion in federal court to intervene in the lawsuit on the side of the university -- the American Association of University Professors (#AAUP, national and UPenn chapters), the American Academy of Jewish Research, the UPenn Jewish Law Students Association, the UPenn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty.
From #StevenWeitzman, UPenn prof of religious studies at UPenn and past member of its antisemitism taskforce: “Part of what sets off alarm bells for people like me is a history of people using Jewish lists against Jews. The Nazi campaign against Jews depended on institutions like universities handing over information about their Jewish members to the authorities.”
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Antisemitism #Trump #Universities #USPol #USPolitics
Groups say EEOC demand for names and personal details echoes dark history and threatens safety and civil rightsAlice Speri (The Guardian)
The exploitative character of academic publishing in a single cartoon.
#publishing #universities #research #academics
h/t Alexandra Kupferberg/LinkedIn
original illustration: Thailand by Tawan Chuntra.
irancartoon.com/site/artists/t… #TawanChuntra #Thailand
I graduated Architecture Faculty,and have started working as an architect,illustrator and cartoonist since 1990.I contributed in both national and internationa…IRANCARTOON
Surprise: "Researchers believe their institution values publication in highly cited journals more than any real-world impact their work might have."
insidehighered.com/news/facult…
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Assessment #Impact #Prestige #SocialScience #Universities
Researchers believe their institution values publication in highly cited journals more than any real-world impact their work might have, a new Sage survey finds.Jack Grove for Times Higher Education (Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs)
ft.com/content/3eccd40e-5ec0-4…
Looks like this shibboleth is also beginning to topple. So what does the #US do? Take a wrecking ball to #universities #education #childcare What does #EU do? Start spending cash on #military. The rest are not even in the picture. Not to make this a competition among #nations - but would #China share #knowledge better than the US and EU?
Once the world’s factory, Beijing’s relentless focus on R&D means the country has become the world’s laboratoryEdward White (Financial Times)
"I'm an average user, so I don't need all the options and apps the programme has to offer. But, to be honest, #Microsoft is making it increasingly attractive to switch. Now that the company is putting #AI in everything, everything is becoming more annoying to use."
Can Dutch #universities do without Microsoft?
dub.uu.nl/en/news/can-dutch-un…
IMO, it's never been easier to switch away from the problematic players because we've got so many alternatives that got much better over time whereas Microsoft and others are practicing #enshittification.
We've done it before. Somehow, we found that giving away knowledge and control to use the #cloud was a good idea. It never was because we've lost so much competence we now need to ramp up very quickly.
#Windows #Teams #SharePoint #digitalsovereignty #EU #FOSS
Can Dutch higher education part ways with Microsoft? The sector is trying to break free, and alternatives are being explored here and there. At the same time, more and more tasks are being completed by Microsoft tools.DUB
From September 2 to 5, the II Ibero-American Meeting on University Heritage will take place in Puebla and Tlaxcala (Mexico), under the title “Utopias. Dystopias. The lived, conceived, or imagined city.”
The conference aims to reflect, debate, and share experiences that contribute to advancing knowledge and establishing models for the management and engagement of university heritage.
More information at: encuentropatrimonio.com/ #globalmuseum #universities #heritage #conference
Dutch researchers get questionnaires from the US government about political views – if you are a European scientist who has received such a letter, please DM me.
staff.universiteitleiden.nl/an… #Trump #sciencepolicy #universities #university #research
Researchers who have received a questionnaire containing political questions from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) or other American government funders such as NIH or ARPA are advised not to respond.www.staff.universiteitleiden.nl
Are #universities being taken over by the "analytics-industrial complex"? Maybe, but I think the author conflates actual developments and data company dreams and sales pitches.
#academia #university_rankings
universityworldnews.com/post.p…
When companies like Times Higher Education simultaneously control university ranking systems, provide strategic consulting and convene education minis...University World News
The #eXit wave of #universities continues in northern #Europe, in #Finland.
After the university of Oulu also the university of #Helsinki will stop communicating via X.
“X no longer serves the purpose for which we have used it: disseminating the University’s communications content to our desired target groups. ..,” says Director of Communications Taina Kyllönen.
“We don’t want to promote a conflict-seeking conversational culture, nor do we wish to expose our #researchers to offensive behaviour through our own posts,” says Kyllönen.
studies.helsinki.fi/instructio…
University Communications has decided to stop communicating on the University’s main accounts on the social media service X (previously Twitter) as of 1 February, 2025.Instructions for students
TU Berlin - Wir haben die Ideen für die Zukunft. Zum Nutzen der Gesellschaft.TU Berlin
As the #eXit continues, the next weeks and months will show how seriously universities take concepts like democracy, equality or inclusion, all words most of them list in their mission statements:
bjoern.brembs.net/2024/12/by-t…
How about your university? Is their mission statement more show or more substance?
#academicchatter #academia #universities
Universities worldwide currently face a pivotal choice: should they contribute to building a global infrastructure for exchange, science, and discourse, free from the control of oligarchs, to promo…bjoern.brembs.blog
(1/2) Dear supporters,
yesterday our petition for #Unis4Mastodon ended with more than 2,070 signatures.
Yesterday alone, another 114 signatures were collected
openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
This shows how pressing the issue of using truly #socialmedia is for many people.
We have managed to get a number of #universities to shut down their X-accounts. And we know that many are considering taking this step as well.
Furthermore, #SciComm is no longer conceivable without the #Fediverse, as the steadily growing number of followers on #Mastodon channels shows.
mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
Liste von Mastodon Accounts von allen deutschen Hochschulen und Universitäten. Erstellt mit Daten aus Wikidata.mastodon-listen.playground.54gradsoftware.de
In 2 days our appeal to #universities and the #HRK for an #eXit and #Unis4Mastodon will close.
Everyday, X demonstrates how unsuitable it is for #SciComm. And finally, the eXit wave has reached the universities, as our logo image shows, which is getting increasingly bigger. 👍 Most of them are also active on #Mastodon, see mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
So, sign up ✍️ quickly that other universities will follow (everyone from Germany and abroad may participate)
👉 openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
Liste von Mastodon Accounts von allen deutschen Hochschulen und Universitäten. Erstellt mit Daten aus Wikidata.mastodon-listen.playground.54gradsoftware.de
Happy New Year 2025!
And good luck to the #Fediverse.
In 4 days our petition to the #universities and the #HRK for the eXit and #Unis4Mastodon 👩🎓 🐘 👨🎓 will end.
So, please, sign quickly:
👉 openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
For inspiration, here is a picture of the logos of #research institutes in Europe that have already made the #eXit. Great, and congratulations!
(forgot anyone? → feel free to let us know).
Some of them have already set up #Mastodon channels, see the amazing list by @scammo
mastodon-listen.playground.54g…
Liste von Mastodon Accounts von allen deutschen Hochschulen und Universitäten. Erstellt mit Daten aus Wikidata.mastodon-listen.playground.54gradsoftware.de
A #PeerTube channel for university videos is a cool thing. We recommend this as the second activity that #universities in the #Fediverse should take after setting up a #Mastodon channel. It's great that you've already done that. Feel free to report on it here; there are many university teachers and researchers who would like to benefit from your experiences.
European Universities started …
.. leaving X
#Universities in #Amsterdam, #Vienna, #Berlin, #Karlsruhe, #Aachen and other cities in Europe have left microblogging service X during the last week(s).
They justify this step with the systematic lack of moderation on the platform, which has resulted in a flood of hate speech, disinformation and cyberbullying.
Some of them have already started to run channels on Mastodon: @univienna, @tuberlin, @KIT_Karlsruhe, @UniOldenburg @unibremen, @freieuniversitaet, @UniUlm , @HTW_Berlin, @uni_paderborn.
X is not a suitable medium for communication in #research and #education. Help get the other #universities to follow suit and sign the petition
👉 openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
#unis4mastodon 🌻 👩🎓 #eXit
The methods practiced on #X disqualify the network for any sensible communication.
Now it is also making money by spreading #AI-generated #FakeNews and influencing elections in the USA, as the BBC reports:
bbc.com/news/articles/cx2dpj48…
#Universities and other #research and #educational institutions that want to provide fact-based information should switch to the real social media of the #Fediverse 🐿️ like #Mastodon 🐘 as soon as possible.
It is beyond reason that the legitimization of lying networks like X is supported with #taxpayers' money.
Help change this soon and sign the petition 👇
openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
#Unis4Mastodon #eXit
@maxplanckgesellschaft @fraunhofergesellschaft
The accounts are part of pro-Trump and pro-Harris networks sharing each other’s content multiple times a day.Marianna Spring (BBC News)
Some people who want to leave #X wonder if #BlueSky is an alternative. 😕
In our petition, we advocate using the decentralized #Mastodon. We do not consider BlueSky to be a sustainable alternative because it is another commercial service that spies on user data to generate customized #advertising with it.
The BlueSky Terms of Service bsky.social/about/support/tos
and Privacy Policy comprise 7100+ words 😡. Nobody reads this; this is not an “informed consent” as required by #GDPR. We see the #universities here as having a duty of care towards their students and employees, whom they must protect from such data collection. Mastodon and the other #Fediverse 🦩 services are much more suitable for university communication.
BlueSky is just another data leech.
That's why you should sign the petition for #Unis4Mastodon 🐘 👩🎓 🐘 :
openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
Welcome to Bluesky Social, a social networking application provided by Bluesky! We're excited to have you on board as a user.Bluesky
We forgot to add the University of Applied Sciences #HTW_Berlin to the list of #universities that did the #eXit 👣. They silenced their #X account this year and do not post there anymore.
Bravo, @HTW_Berlin, a good step! 👏
👉 htw-berlin.de/en/
In addition, a channel has been set up into the Fediverse 🌳 and the X logo has been removed from the homepage (a small hint: now add the Mastodon logo to the homepage).
Many potential followers would certainly be interested in finding out more about #HTW_Berlin via the #Mastodon channel.
Sign the petition: ✍️ openpetition.de/Unis4Mastodon
In our appeal we argue:
"#Disinformation and hate speech, ... are still defining elements" on #X, "elections are being manipulated and democratic institutions are attacked."
A current example of this is the #Trollrensics study on the #EPelection that became public last week. According to it, millions of posts promoting right-wing populist parties were distributed by over 50,000 fake accounts on X. 👇
theguardian.com/world/article/…
Why do #universities legitimize these fake campaigns with their presence on X?
Sign the petition 👉 → openpetition.de/unis4mastodon
#Unis4Mastodon 🇪🇺 🌼 🇪🇺
Analysis by Dutch researchers shows coordinated activity in France, Germany and Italy in run-up to ballotLisa O'Carroll (The Guardian)
The #FreeUniversity of #Berlin, one of the best-known #universities of #Germany has decided to close its account on #X:
"In light of developments on the social media platform X, Freie Universität Berlin has decided to shut down this channel."
fu-berlin.de/informationen-fue…
In its justification, it commits itself to the principles of the #Fediverse and #OpenScience:
"Freie Universität Berlin has been present on Mastodon since December 2022. #Mastodon is part of the decentralized Fediverse network. Compared to large commercial social networks, Mastodon relies on chronological feeds and reduces the algorithmic sorting of posts. This ensures that information is always openly available and reduces the likelihood of so-called filter bubbles forming."
Bravo, @freieuniversitaet ! A good decision!
#Unis4Mastodon 🌻 #AlleInsFediverse 🐘 🐘 🐘
