Social media giants are not complying with under-16s social media ban, new report finds eSafety is investigating Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube for “potential non-compliance”. But several questions about the ban remain unanswered.

Maybe the “world first” social media ban was not a great idea to start with?? Regulate big tech, not young people 🤷🏻‍♀️ theconversation.com/social-media...

The ensloppification of academic publishing is a threat to many existing processes and norms. Just the time sunk into policing for genAI-written / referenced papers by editors and reviewers makes me headasplodey.

Hoping against hope that the metric tide is turning, for all the reasons that @peterwoelert.bsky.social outlines in this article.

#AcademicSky #AcWri #AcademicPublishing

This project by photographer Michael Wolf is so good: 'Bastard chairs'

worksthatwork.com/1/bastard-ch...

Academia.edu - Find Research Papers, Topics, Researchers Academia.edu is the platform to share, find, and explore 50 Million research papers. Join us to accelerate your research needs & academic interests.

FYI, Academia.edu has changed its terms of service to give an irrevocable worldwide license for anything uploaded to its site to be used for generative AI. I do not consent to this and have pulled all my papers.

Now launched! Get onto it, you good things. Let's all turn back the metric tide.

#AcademicSky

Mark Rothko canvas, red on red

Happy year of the fire horse

[Mark Rothko, Red on Red, 1969]

Well, now this is a total surprise!

Thousands of paywalled research papers could be freed with this simple fix ‘Green open access’ has existed for decades – and it’s not hard to get academics to use it more.

WHO KNEW? "Thousands of paywalled research papers could be freed with this simple fix" (yes it is good ol' green open access, but in Australia we have been so fixated on read and publish deals the humble repository has been lost in the melee) theconversation.com/thousands-of...

Sorry to hear about the conditions of this decision, Katie. 😞

Census - Stress Cafe Despite multiple government reviews – including the Australian Universities Accord and a Senate Inquiry – staff wellbeing in the workplace has received little direct attention. In response, the Australian University Census on Staff Wellbeing was launched in 2025 as a sector-wide “name and support” public health and sustainability initiative. The purpose of the Census is […]

Australian University Census on Staff Wellbeing findings are now out and about!

stresscafe.net/census/

Welcome to 2026 Photo by Warren Griffiths on Unsplash. 2026 is shaping up to be an interesting year. It feels like every year since 2020 has been an ‘interesting year’ for different reasons. Could we h…

Welcome to 2026 from @therealrw.bsky.social! We've had a long time between optimistic round-up posts and starting this year with one bodes well.

Hope you have things to look forward to, too, research-wise!

researchwhisperer.org/2026/02/03/w...

a woman wearing glasses is reading a book and says " nuh uh " at the bottom ALT: a woman wearing glasses is reading a book and says " nuh uh " at the bottom

Noooo. Mr Tulk, the iconic Melbourne cafe that's in the SLV, is being forced to close?! WTAF? Why mess with something that ain't broke?

If you are similarly incensed, there's a petition - pls sign: www.change.org/p/save-mr-tulk

How to Become a Professional Writer Do you enjoy writing? Do you like the idea of taking the thing you love doing the most in the world and turning it into work? So that your access t...

Some lovely @mcsweeneys.net to end your working week: How to become a professional writer

Definitely share it with your author-y friends. 😄

What technology takes from us – and how to take it back | Rebecca Solnit The long read: Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collectiv...

Great long-read by Rebecca Solnit:

"Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collective effort"

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

‘Rage knitting’ against the machine: the hobbyists putting anti-ICE messages into crafts Makers take a stand through ‘Melt the ICE’ red knit caps and sparkly nails – all while raising funds for those affected by immigration raids

Staff at a Twin Cities yarn store put together a pattern for a red knit “Melt the ICE” hat inspired by the Norwegian resistance.

They thought they would attract 10 people to a weekly knit-along.

They’ve sold 70,000 copies, raising more than $250k for immigrant aid groups.

a man with a beard is looking at a woman with the words maybe we could be better together ALT: a man with a beard is looking at a woman with the words maybe we could be better together

Wallowing in post-holiday feasting happiness? Got some time in this weird interstitial space before a new year starts?

Add to this Wiki entry on "Research Culture" that @therealrw.bsky.social's @jod999.bsky.social created! Make it better!

Read on: researchwhisperer.org/2025/12/09/r...

I totally binged this series. It is so good and the theme song lived in my head long after I finished it. Loooong after.

Pantone just updated their Color Of The Year

SIGH- not sure where all this will end but it is likely to be ugly

That Vanity Fair article.

Some of the striking (!) photos on their Insta account: www.instagram.com/vanityfair/

📌 Meme not from the VF photoshoot.

Fascinating project underway by @neilselwyn.bsky.social and colleagues - please share with your academic networks!

#AcademicSky

Yes! A great start but the same people are still, astonishingly, running the State Library of Melbourne. They're not saying, 'we were wrong' but 'you don't understand it, so we'll re-word it'. Rally tomorrow Saturday, at Library 12.30! We must stiffen our spines! (Ba ha ha, books, I'm very tired.)

A rainbow lorikeet looking as though it is angrily side-eyeing the camera. Text in a speech bubble reads: "Shouldn't you be writing?"

Does having a judgemental lorikeet staring at you help you to write? Print this out, stick it on or next to your computer and see what happens! #academicchatter #academicsky #PhDchat #resdev #highered #suaw

How did I miss this series? It's exactly my thing!

We've been deep in conference season here in Australia. So it may be too late for #AcademicCoachTaylor's take...yeah nah. It's never too late.

#AcademicSky #PhDchat #academia #resdevmemes #resdev

I...didn't recognise the show. 😬

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign? Save the State Library of Victoria!

Help! Sign & share the petition to save the State Library of Victoria from rolling crises, gallery closures, harassment/jettisoning of staff & new cuts to destroy services for children & adults. c.org/Hj9G9WSg2f. (Or change.org, search Save The State Library of Victoria.) #StateLibrary #librarians

a close up of a man in a black suit smiling . ALT: a close up of a man in a black suit smiling .

A librarian took exception to our post about how we love libraries and librarians and our use of 'polite'. They go on at length about how librarians contribute to research endeavours and universities and that everyone should engage with them more and all I can say is...💯.

No beef here, friend!