We’re all obsessed with space content online – and this is why

We, as readers, simply adore discovering more about the mysteries of our universe. It’s a subject matter that slices through everything to capture the public interest

Scientists found water on distant ‘super-Earth’ K2-18b (M Kornmesser/ESA/Hubble/AFP)

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of The Independent Audience team. Its five year mission: to explore strange new subreddits. To seek out new readers and new Facebook pages. To boldly post stories where no no one has posted before.

Space, as a topic, never ceases to amaze and wonder The Independent’s readers. No matter what’s going on in the world; whether it be Brexit, President Trump, or HS2 – nothing seems to beat a story about the final frontier when it comes to page views, shares and interactions in the comment sections on our various social media platforms.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had some remarkable news from all over the cosmos, including water being discovered on a ‘habitable’ exoplanet for the first time, a supermassive blackhole at the centre of our galaxy becoming curiously bright, and bizarre balloon-like structures appearing in the Milky Way. Even The Independent’s sister site, indy100, got in on the space-based action with news of mysterious signals being recorded on China’s biggest space telescope.

Between them, these stories racked up thousands of shares across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and more. No matter your political alignment, interest in current affairs or involvement on social media, we, as readers, simply adore discovering more about the mysteries of our universe. It’s a subject matter that slices through everything to capture the public interest and at the same time encourages people to share the story with their friends – so they too can have a “today I learned” moment.

So the next time you see a story from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away being shared into your timeline, know that you’re not alone in appreciating the wonder or amazement at the new discoveries scientists, cosmologists and astronomers are making. For The Independent, when it comes to space stories, the sky really is the limit.

Yours,

Josh Withey​

Social media editor for The Independent and indy100