#community-outreach — Public Fediverse posts

PsyPost: Updating Wikipedia pages boosts public trust in scientific organizations, study finds. “A recent study published in the journal Anatomical Sciences Education has found that updating Wikipedia pages for scientific organizations improves public access to accurate information.”

Athens County Independent: Athens chatbot helps some users, frustrates others. “Athens residents used the city’s ‘Benny the Brick’ artificial intelligence chatbot in its first year to access varied local information, but the bot’s limitations left many users frustrated. The AI chatbot on the Athens city website uses information from the site, as well as a manually entered dataset, to […]

New York Groove: We got to the bottom of the Sex and the City-style composting ads . “It’s hard to remember any recent conversation about transit ads that didn’t center around AI ‘companions,’ AI slop ‘recipes,’ endless GLP-1 plugs, and problematic tutorials on how to contour your nose…. So imagine my delight circa mid-March, when my texts and DMs started blowing up with pics of Scrappy, […]

WABE: PAD launches public database to track calls, outcomes for community services. “A new public dashboard from Atlanta’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative shows a growing number of Atlantans are calling 311 for non-emergency supportive services, but still rely on 911 for a majority of calls. Since 2021, PAD has responded to calls that otherwise would have gone to the police, […]

Tubefilter: STEM creators are working with researchers in all 50 states to showcase ‘Science Across America’. “The United States is celebrating its 250th birthday this summer, and a group of creators is turning that milestone into a celebration of science. A nonprofit called the Independent Media Initiative (IMI) is behind 50×50: Science Across America, a coast-to-coast ‘YouTube project’ […]

The Register: Stale gov.uk pages are feeding AI overviews old data and Brits are believing it. “AI overviews from the likes of Google are serving up false summaries of UK government information by drawing on stale GOV.UK pages, according to content designers at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). The problem, senior content designer Giorgio Di Tunno and content operations lead Neil […]

WFMY: Greensboro Police apologize after Facebook post targeting commenter. “The Greensboro Police Department is apologizing after a social media post over the weekend sparked backlash and thousands of comments online. It all started Saturday with a post on the department’s Facebook page introducing what it called ‘Happy Attention Seeking Saturday.'”

Christian Science Monitor: Where wit and wisdom disarm disinformation. “As part of its war in Ukraine, Russia is intensifying deceptive social media campaigns in Europe. France and the EU are countering with a society-wide approach that combines online vigilance with transparency, truth, and critical thinking.”

Associated Press: Talk back: Tech deal promotes conversations between journalists and those who follow their stories. “Environmentalist Christine Holland closely follows journalist Tiffany Higgins’ stories from the Amazon River region, frequently sending her comments and questions. This week, Higgins responded to one message about her piece on the Brazilian arts community by sending Holland a […]

University of Texas at Dallas: Study: Elected Officials Tend To Discount Social Media Input. “A University of Texas at Dallas political scientist and his colleagues have found that elected officials put much more stock in in-person communication with their constituents than they do in messages conveyed via social media. The research, published in Public Opinion Quarterly, suggests that a social […]

Chapelboro: Town Of Chapel Hill Announces Departure From Social Media Site X. “The Town of Chapel Hill announced it will no longer post or monitor its accounts on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The local government shared the decision in its weekly ‘Our Town’ newsletter on Thursday.”

CIDRAP: CDC, health groups spent millions to buy ads on websites flagged for misinformation. “In the new study, published this week in JAMA Network Open, researchers scrutinized advertising revenue from 11 news sites flagged for spreading health misinformation, including false claims about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.”

Tubefilter: Japanese police just made a VTuber their official Traffic Regulation Ambassador. “Here’s a philosophical question: Would you be more likely to obey the rules of the road if a cute anime girl was telling you about them? Police in Kagawa Prefecture are betting the answer is yes. They’ve tapped Hololive VTuber AZKi as their official Traffic Regulation Ambassador ahead of a Sept. 1, […]

Associated Press: Mamdani puts New York City government back on TikTok. “Almost three years ago, New York City joined governments across the country in banning TikTok from its phones over security concerns about the Chinese social media site. On Tuesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a bona fide social media star, took to the app to announce a reversal: ‘TikTok, we’re back.'”

Dutch News: “Eat the rich”? Dutch political parties slay on social media. “While some researchers are concerned about polarisation among young people and the huge reach of far-right parties such as Forum voor Democratie, Christians, Socialists and green advocates are taking them on.”

Gothamist: Has NY state’s official Instagram account lost its mind?. “Another era of taxpayers might have balked at an official arm of the state promoting meaningless, agenda-less content like viral baby hippo Moo Deng photoshopped in front of an Olive Garden, but in 2026, the message of nonsensical delight deeply resonates with young voters’ nihilistic senses of humor. The most bizarre […]

Radio New Zealand: Pacific broadcasters rethink news delivery in digital age. “With audiences increasing their consumption of online content, many broadcasters say they need to rethink how they deliver news programs. While the opportunities are ever increasing, so too are the challenges for Pacific media to balance credibility and cultural sovereignty.”

Daily Northwestern: Professors’ social media accounts explore what happens when academia meets the algorithm. “SESP Prof. Alexandra Solomon runs multiple social media accounts, primarily focused on relationship-related content. She launched her Instagram account, @dr.alexandra.solomon, in June 2015 and has since grown it to about 224,000 followers. The account features a range of content […]

Northwestern University: Can a smartphone tutorial improve environmental health literacy?. “A new study co-led by [Professor Phil] Brown, found a smartphone tutorial could help people better understand the amount of harmful chemicals found in their body and how to reduce their exposure to them.”

Tubefilter: Democrats need creators during the 2026 midterms, so a group of Senators is reaching out. “Democrats are desperate to gain more Congressional seats during the 2026 midterm elections, and they’re hoping that strong alliances with top creators can guide them down the path to victory. On February 11, the Democratic Strategic Communications Committee (SCC) will host a creator summit […]

Civil Society: Major charities leave X after AI images controversy. “Major charities including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) have stopped posting on social media platform X due to controversy surrounding its artificial intelligence tool’s image-creating function.”

WSAW: WisconsinEye announces launch of GoFundMe campaign. “WisconsinEye is announcing the launch of a GoFundMe campaign. WisconsinEye says it needs to raise a critical $250,000 to allow state Capitol programming to resume. They say this is three months of their operating budget. According to WisconsinEye, without this funding, WisconsinEye could lose up to four staff members, putting the […]

Search Engine Journal: WordPress X Account’s ‘Childish’ Trolling Causes Backlash. “An official WordPress.org social media account was used to troll the open source movement to decentralize the WordPress plugins and themes repository, creating what some feel was an undignified, even ‘childish’, representation of the WordPress community.”

Northeastern University: Will local TV news survive? This guide could be a lifeline . “For nearly a decade, Beaudet, the investigative reporter, has been moonlighting as Beaudet the researcher, charting viewing habits for local news and monitoring where the industry is lagging. The end result of that work is the Reinventing Local TV News Project. … The project also recently received funding […]