Across politics and style, academics occupy a distinct lane: more liberal, less toxic, and only a bit more restrained emotionally. Recognising this gap is key for anyone who turns to Twitter to gauge “what scientists think.”
Lines track the monthly averages for two groups:
U.S. academics
General U.S. users
Shaded bands show 95 % confidence ranges; higher = more of the trait.
Climate policy. Academic tweets display markedly stronger endorsement of climate action than the general timeline. Yet, scholars voice less enthusiasm for both technological quick-fixes and behaviour-change appeals, indicating a more reserved stance on the specific pathways to mitigation.
Socio-economic ideology. Expressions from academics lean more toward cultural liberalism and, to a lesser extent, economic collectivism. These progressive signals appear consistently across the observation window.
Tone and style. Scholarly discourse is noticeably less toxic and marginally less emotive than that of the average U.S. user. Self-referential language (egocentrism) has largely converged across the two groups, showing no meaningful gap by the end of the period.
Take-away. Relative to the broader platform, academics project a more progressive but also more restrained communicative profile—supportive of climate action and egalitarian values, delivered in a comparatively civil manner.