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

Emily L. Hunt, Vincent S. Carpenter, Kyle W. Cook, Douglas G. Hilton, Mehnaaz Asad, Janine Jochum, Kelly Lepo, Jamie Zvirzdin

TL;DR

The paper addresses the fragility of astronomy communication on for-profit social media platforms and presents The Astrosky Ecosystem as an independent, open-source solution built on the AT Protocol. It details a distributed architecture with Personal Data Servers, relays, and interoperable apps, highlighting Bluesky as a prominent AT Protocol implementation. The authors demonstrate real-world operation over 2.5 years, including 17 astronomy feeds, robust usage metrics, and open-source hosting, with funding via Open Collective. The work shows that decentralized, open social infrastructure can sustain science communication, enable resilience against platform risk, and enable future integrations with conferences, publications, and observational data sources.

Abstract

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.

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

TL;DR

The paper addresses the fragility of astronomy communication on for-profit social media platforms and presents The Astrosky Ecosystem as an independent, open-source solution built on the AT Protocol. It details a distributed architecture with Personal Data Servers, relays, and interoperable apps, highlighting Bluesky as a prominent AT Protocol implementation. The authors demonstrate real-world operation over 2.5 years, including 17 astronomy feeds, robust usage metrics, and open-source hosting, with funding via Open Collective. The work shows that decentralized, open social infrastructure can sustain science communication, enable resilience against platform risk, and enable future integrations with conferences, publications, and observational data sources.

Abstract

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.
Paper Structure (3 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 3 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. The AT Protocol
  3. The Astrosky Ecosystem

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Top: Number of posts per week to the Astronomy, Astrophotography, and AstroSci feeds made by registered posters. Bottom: Total number of registered posters on the feeds and the number of unique post authors per week.