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100% of UK HEIs had X/Twitter feeds in 2017, dropping to 80% now according to a new paper by Katy Jordan, and earlier this year, Andy Tattersall showed that of those still on the platform, only 46% were still actively posting.

Instagram is now the only platform with 100% adoption by HEIs, and their largest audiences are on LinkedIn (176K followers) and Facebook (169K), followed by Instagram (79K) and X/Twitter (68K). Only 10% are using Bluesky and 6% Threads (none use Mastodon).

Switching to new alternatives is a trade-off between your values and the reach you want your research to have. However if you want your reach to be inclusive, you have to weigh up the continued online abuse reported on X against your desire to reach those who still mainly use X.