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Zoë Crowther

@zoecrowther.bsky.social

28K followers 1.7K following 1.3K posts

• political reporter politicshome.bsky.social • “internet shepherd” of Bluesky • covering the politics behind social media, tech & health IG: http://instagram.com/zoe.crowther/ • X: @zoenora6 📍 London via Notts, Newcastle & Bristol

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · Nov 27

To all my new followers here, a short introduction:

I'm a political reporter for @politicshome.bsky.social, covering all things politics and running our Sunday newsletter interviews each week

I'm particularly interested in social media, AI, online safety, mental health & NHS/health and social care

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 53m

And my brilliant colleague @matildamartin.bsky.social has been particularly ahead of the curve

She reported all the way back in June that Reform would find very limited room for further cuts in their council spending

Reform Will Struggle To Find Much Council Waste To Cut, Analysis Suggests

Councils now run by Reform UK spent up to 78 per cent of their service spending on social care and homelessness last year, analysis shows, suggesti...

www.politicshome.com

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 56m

@matildamartin.bsky.social and I explored why it was likely that Reform’s promises to cut council tax were unlikely to hold up in the face of reality

Reform councillors told us that they had been put “in a straitjacket”

As referenced here in @thetimes.com

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 59m

Lots of coverage this week about Reform councils being likely to raise council tax

@politicshome.bsky.social has been ahead of this for a while, including digging into Reform councils’ cost-cutting promises last month…

Reform's Cost-Cutting Unit Struggles With The Reality Of Local Pressures

After more than 100 days in office, those in charge of Reform-led councils are facing a political reality check in the form of soaring social care ...

www.politicshome.com

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Reposted by Zoë Crowther

Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 1h

Hmm. Are there no checks between these “younger producers” and the script airing?

I recently encountered a younger producer who insisted (via TikTok) that gold top milk was a newly invented superfood. But neither I nor the presenter then said it on air…

Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 1h

The Guardian has picked up this story, with the founder of the production company behind #HIGNFY blaming young producers “marinated in social media”

He says they have tightened their rules around getting information from social media

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Reposted by Zoë Crowther

Gareth Davies @garethtbij.bsky.social · 1h

Poor form to blame "younger producers". Do they not have fact-checking processes that should have spotted this basic factual error? Either way, more experienced staff should have caught it

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 1h

And @politicshome.bsky.social’s story from last week 👇

BBC Apologises For Airing Fake Claim About Digital ID Scheme

The BBC has apologised for airing a false claim about Tony Blair's son's company being awarded a government contract to produce the new mandatory d...

www.politicshome.com

Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 1h

Read The Guardian story here:

BBC airing false claim about Euan Blair blamed on young producers ‘marinated in social media’

Broadcaster apologised after Have I Got News For You falsely said former PM’s son had won digital ID contract

www.theguardian.com

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 1h

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Reposted by Zoë Crowther

Scott Bryan @scottygb.bsky.social · 1d

What a quote #CelebrityTraitors

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Reposted by Zoë Crowther

Zack Fox 🦊 @zjfox.bsky.social · 1d

It'll be wild when Charlotte Church reveals she's been pretending to be Welsh this entire time #TheTraitorsUK #CelebrityTraitors

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 18h

In the UK you can get it on BBC iPlayer - not sure about in other countries though!

Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 18h

I was laughing the entire episode, exactly the kind of TV I needed after three weeks of party conferences !!

Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 18h

Just so, so good 😭

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 18h

Just watched the first two episodes of #CelebrityTraitors and it was TV GOLD

“You can't call someone a Traitor just because they have a better vocabulary than you.”

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 2d

Well, I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 3d

Before anyone comes at me for still posting on X...

I report on tech and twitter. So to understand the impact it's having on politics I do have to be there for now

But I try to balance my time across all the major platforms rather than solely relying on X. And I definitely get better pick up here!

Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 3d

Bluesky doesn't offer proper engagement analytics yet so it's hard to compare accurately

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 3d

Side-by-side comparison of the same post on X and Bluesky 👇 X post is doing better, but only because it's been shared by verified users

99% of the time, my tweets on X get basically zero engagement

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 3d

I often cross-post to both Bluesky and X (28k followers here, 17k there)

- posts with links perform better on Bsky
- more consistent engagement on Bsky
- X tweets either do really well or completely flop
- if big/verified accounts retweet you on X, the numbers can still climb higher on there

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 3d

An experiment:

If you see this post, please like it. Am comparing numbers to the other place for a piece.

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Reposted by Zoë Crowther

Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 4d

Say hello to literally the only protesters outside Tory conference this year

Two protesters holding up a sign saying “pedestrianise the M6”

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 4d

🤭

Victoria Coren Mitchell @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social · 4d

Only Connect is on tonight! And, *as far as I know*, all the facts I read out will be correct.

But I guess we’ll soon find out.

8pm, BBC Two

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 4d

My colleague sent me their leaflet 😭 so good

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 4d

Say hello to literally the only protesters outside Tory conference this year

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 4d

Euan Blair’s company responds to #HIGNFY airing the conspiracy theory about them being linked to digital ID 😅

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Zoë Crowther @zoecrowther.bsky.social · 4d

Multiverse offers apprenticeships and skills training, it does not develop software

Full story on the spread of the false claim here and the BBC’s apology 👇
www.politicshome.com/news/article...

BBC Apologises For Airing Fake Claim About Digital ID Scheme

The BBC has apologised for airing a false claim about Tony Blair's son's company being awarded a government contract to produce the new mandatory d...

www.politicshome.com

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