So, I was reading this thread on AskHistorians, where the mods announced they’re moving their social media presence from Twitter to Bluesky. They explained that Twitter’s become less useful for them—the history community there has kind of faded, plus there are ethical issues with the platform’s direction. They’re an all-volunteer team, so they need to be practical about where they invest effort, and Bluesky now has a concentrated migration of historians, which makes it a viable alternative for networking.
The discussion that followed was… well, it went in a few directions. A lot of people were surprised to learn AskHistorians even had a Twitter account, given how little engagement it seemed to get. Someone pointed out that their last tweet only got five likes, which is wild for a sub with over two million subscribers. But then another person chimed in with the 90-9-1 rule of online engagement, explaining that most people just lurk, so it’s not that shocking.
Then, the conversation took a hilarious turn. The mods mentioned in their post that they’d tried Tumblr but clashed with users over “smutty fanfic about historical figures,” which they felt wasn’t really history and was sometimes in poor taste. This sparked an absolute avalanche of jokes and playful commentary. People started riffing on what that fanfic might look like—suggesting plots like Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis in a lovers’ quarrel, or Khrushchev and Kennedy in an enemies-to-lovers arc. There was a whole thread speculating about Newton not being a virgin, and someone even brought up a real academic paper on homoerotic Three Kingdoms fanfiction. The vibe was mostly lighthearted and amused, with many upvotes on these humorous takes.
Interestingly, a few folks defended the idea that fanfiction can actually lead to serious historical research. One person noted that some of the most meticulous researchers are “horny Tumblr users” trying to make their erotic fanfic historically accurate. Others shared examples, like fanfiction writers reviving Old English or contributing to niche historical discussions. So, there was this undercurrent of respect for the passion that can drive deep dives into history, even if the starting point is unconventional.
A smaller part of the discussion focused on the mods’ strategy for announcing this move. They deliberately didn’t pin the post at first, relying on organic upvotes to boost visibility, because pinned posts often get buried by Reddit’s algorithm—a fact several users and mods confirmed, blaming past abuses by certain subreddits. This tactical insight got a lot of agreement, especially from those who mod other subs or use old Reddit to avoid these issues.
Some users expressed support for the move to Bluesky, citing ethical concerns with Twitter’s ownership and content moderation. A flaired user and podcast host shared strong feelings about leaving a platform that promotes false history. Others were grateful for the transparency and saw it as a reason to finally join Bluesky themselves.
There was also a brief, slightly ominous tangent where someone joked about printing the post for the Library of Congress, leading to darkly humorous speculation about whether institutions—or even Congress—would exist in 20 years. It was a moment of collective gallows humor about the future.
Overall, the thread had a mix of support for the practical decision, playful engagement with the fanfiction aside, and meta-discussion about Reddit’s mechanics. It felt like a community both appreciating the mods’ work and seizing an opportunity to bond over shared jokes, while also thoughtfully considering the platforms where history discourse happens.
