Being on Bluesky since the November election has been like watching a political social network be hatched. You can almost hear David Attenborough narrating in the background.

The app - a more open version of Twitter/X - has attracted people who don’t wish to be in the algorithmically driven and Musk-corrupted alternative, and who have found Threads or Mastodon not to be a sufficient alternative. Growth has been rapid and it has been at the top of the charts in the app stores.

Much of our previous research into Twitter has studied how that app acted like a town square and communications platform for the political ecosystem, tracking how that declined over 2023 and, at least in Massachusetts, is no longer a useful platform. So I was curious to see whether Bluesky has been able to replace it and, if so, what are some of the early signs.

Legislata is based on the belief that information in public policy should be more accessible and usable. One area where this is about as true as it gets is lobbying in Massachusetts. Every lobbyist is required to file extensive disclosure forms twice a year, but those forms are buried on thousands of individual webpages, making it hard to put together a picture of the industry in the Commonwealth.

We have collected that data and made some of the most relevant statistics freely accessible here, including how much each lobbyist donated to candidates, how much each candidate received, each individual contribution, each individual lobbying activity, client spending in 2023 and the first half of 2024, and the top 50 lobbyists by earnings in 2023 and the first half of 2024.

If 2024 is truly exceptional at the presidential level, does that mean it’s an exception that our forecasting models can’t handle?

As political Twitter declines, other competitor apps have emerged. We have seen elected officials posting on LinkedIn, analysts moving to private Discord servers, and TikTok influencers brought to the White House. However, in terms of replicating what used to be offered by Twitter, the best option may be Meta’s Threads (built on top of Instagram), which currently comes closest to the scope, depth and userbase that Twitter had.

Who gets more of their donors’ contributions? We dive into 1.7 million contributions in Massachusetts as we create a new political statistic.

We mapped out networks of political candidates based on 1.7 million donations. Here are how donors see the factions of #mapoli.

We’re now automatically transcribing committee hearings from the Massachusetts State House. Free for .gov and .edu accounts, $10 / month otherwise.

Do you always find it challenging to keep up with all your outstanding deals and don’t want to buy separate software for it? With our dealtracker bot it’s as simple as writing a note and we track the value of the pipeline for you.

Here is how you can use one of the first bots, the Constituent Case bot, to keep track of your open constituent cases and see at a glance what’s happening in your community.

Legislata offers scenario strategy workshops to help organizations test and develop strategies for what might happen in various situations. This helps organizations be prepared for when something unexpected happens and you and/or your competitors are scrambling to react.

We recently ran an exercise of the 2024 presidential primaries without Biden or Trump as frontrunner as a demonstration of this technique as well as a chance to generate interesting findings about American politics.

The philosophy behind Legislata is that, when it comes to working in policy, there is no one size that fits all, even within the same organization.

As part of this approach, we’re building bots. These are mini-apps that can do a specific function for you within Legislata without requiring you to upgrade the overall tier of your workspace. They’re simple to add - all you need to do is add the right topic tag and the system will do the rest for you.

Here is how you can use one of the first bots, the CrossPostBillBot, to create a customized legislative tracker for you, your coalition, or your clients.

From New York to North Carolina, we’ve explored some of the most-followed Twitter accounts by local elected officials. Now, we’re heading west, to California. Let’s take a look at who the California State Legislature is following on Twitter.

Recently, we took a look at who Michigan legislators follow on Twitter to give you an idea of the voices that the state’s elected officials take an interest in, as the latest in our series on researching the Twitter ecosystems of states. Now it’s time for Pennsylvania.

Recently, we took a look at who Delaware legislators follow on Twitter to give you an idea of the voices that the First State’s elected officials take an interest in, as the latest in our series on researching the Twitter ecosystems of states. Now it’s time for Michigan.

Recently, we took a look at who New Jersey legislators follow on Twitter to give you an idea of the voices that the Garden State’s elected officials take an interest in, as the latest in our series on researching the Twitter ecosystems of states. Now it’s time for Delaware.

Scenario planning can help make the unknown future a little better understood. Here is a quick overview to tell you why stories are a great way of conducting analysis.

Matrix games can help even the most expert teams gain additional insights into what might happen next. Here are five reasons to consider taking a morning to run one.

Here’s a deep dive into who the North Carolina General Assembly follows on Twitter, broken down by party.

Recently, we took a look at who New Jersey legislators follow on Twitter to give you an idea of the voices that the Garden State’s elected officials take an interest in, as the latest in our series on researching the Twitter ecosystems of states.

We're covering the 2024 Presidential Race, with automatic updates of press releases, tweets, and other information on the candidates.

As part of the process, we've signed up for updates from all the major candidates. Here's the initial thoughts from someone who has worked in both politics and tech.