"While we heard throughout the research that people value the role of local news, the word 'journalism' can evoke partisanship or elitism for some audiences, while 'media' sounds like entertainment to many people." www.niemanlab.org/2025/10/dont...

Wrote something for @powertochange.org.uk about the fact that government policy must include a new category - digital social policy - to address the social impacts of technologies. Tech policy has to be more than cutting-edge innovation and growth www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...

We have heard about how the welfare system treats those that depend on it, including poor communication, limited transparency, delays, and long waiting times. But a welfare system is possible 🗣️ Read the latest blog from @j-hancock.bsky.social: demos.co.uk/blogs/puttin...

📢 New Journal Article: AI & Deliberation 📢 What impact does #AI have on democratic deliberation? Together with @adrauc.bsky.social, I explore this question in a new article in Government Information Quarterly. Findings in the thread 🧵👇 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... (1/7)

“AI sovereignty, as it currently plays out outside of the U.S.-China vacuum, is not a banner‐waving claim to territorial control; rather, it manifests itself as the quiet right to decide what counts as knowledge & how that knowledge shows up in the world.” — @digitaldang.bsky.social #ai #aistacks

Delighted that @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social has identified the same problem. Digital ID compounds smartphone dystopia www.thetimes.com/article/bcc1...

I’ve worked on and off on digital identity for a decade. I have plenty of thoughts about the UK govt proposal. Right now though, based on my work with 14-24 year olds I’m curious how a compulsory DIGITAL ID will help with extricating young people from mobile devices? 🤷🏻‍♀️ www.gov.uk/government/n...

I'd like to see UK data centre plan developed with net zero goals, community health and opportunity, and local renewal in mind. What is the upside of living and working near to a data centre? And if there isn't one, govt needs to *create* one.

📣 NEW: How can we validate claims about AI? Many AI companies often base their testing on specific tasks but overstate their overall capabilities. Our latest policy brief presents a three-step validation framework for separating legitimate from unsupported claims. hai.stanford.edu/policy/valid...

This free digi inclusion booklet will be distributed in libraries and community venues in Liverpool 😍 It covers a wide range of topics including how to apply for jobs, manage money, avoid scams, and spot misinformation 👉 api.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/wp-content/u... #localgov @dxw.com

“Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” Wayne Gretzky 🏒 (also New_ Public) We’re looking for a short-term Research Fellow to help us identify emerging trends and explore how the growth of AI is impacting digital public spaces.

🏘️ "We're losing our neighborhoods" w/ @caseyrandazzo.bsky.social et al. 8 months post-Hurricane Ida: Online groups (organizing/informal) & town halls (formal/structured) discussed similar topics. Crisis effects extend far beyond emergency response. #CrisisInformatics; arxiv.org/abs/2503.07892

RESEARCH: Participating in local conversations can strengthen your connection to your community, online & off. A study found active, long-term participants in their local subreddit were more likely to be civically involved & report a higher sense of belonging. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Excellent, vital work! 👏

The internet is not a monolith. But what I have felt the entire week (and what I felt last week writing about the MN shooter's viral video) is that so many people are dedicated to having the highest stakes conversations and fights about crucially important things in the worst possible venues.

Small correction - correct handle for LGA is @local.gov.uk 😅

We’ve just launched a paper I wrote as a freelancer for the Independent Commision on Neighbourhoods! Thank you all of the brilliant interviewees, including @helenmilner.bsky.social @goodthingsfdn.bsky.social, @learnforlife.bsky.social, @localgovernment.bsky.social & more ⭐️

Every Star Trek episode that was derided as "unrealistic", where Kirk argues a computer into destroying itself, is vindicated.

At long last, I can post my team's summer project: applied modules to teach how ML/AI tools are changing social science and humanities research: ubcecon.github.io/praxis-ubc/ Highlights: LegalBERT to analyze anti/pro-immigrant sentiment in 19th c. BC law: ubcecon.github.io/praxis-ubc/d... 🧵1

Good to feel seen

“The last decade has made clear that we aren’t going to fact-check or inoculate our way toward a healthier civic culture.” — @zevesanderson.com & Scott Babwah Brennen #misinformation #disinformation #democracy

What a paragraph

"In short, every trend of what is happening with online ads is the opposite of what it would in a world in which ever-better data is improving their targeting and relevance year-on-year. Companies can’t target ads, no-one can track who’s being shown what, and the public hates what we see."

📣Job alert! We're hiring a Policy Researcher. Join us to work on projects looking at how AI governance, including regulations, assurance and standards, helps ensure that AI works for people and society. Closing: 9:30am BST, Monday 15 September. www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/job/policy-r...

Reading list from the talk! I.e., the references slide

Great piece from @himself.bsky.social about his new paper with @hahrie.bsky.social for our AI & Democratic Freedoms series - link below. www.programmablemutter.com/p/the-ai-dem...

What if one solution to winning back the public's trust is...to trust the public? Weekend Essay for @newstatesman.com on the labour movement's long history of working with communities to make life a bit better, based on my paper for @iconeighbours.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

🇪🇺 What could a sovereign, independent European digital infrastructure look like? A workshop organised with @algosoc.org & ASCA brought together leading voices from various academic disciplines and the media industry to reflect on alternatives to current digital infrastructures. 🪡 Findings thread:

🧵1/ In a new working paper with @kunkakom.bsky.social & @adrauc.bsky.social, we examine how people feel about AI use by governments. We find an unsettling tension: information about AI-driven efficiency gains boosts trust – but makes people feel less in control. arxiv.org/abs/2505.01085

I think the comments on this (very good, if I do say so myself) article are fascinating. If the AI industry has lost the Verge commenter, who do they have on their side? www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

One week on from the BRAID Community Gathering, and we’re still feeling the energy from a day filled with insight, authenticity and connection. Heartfelt thanks to our speakers, attendees; Our Community - your being there made it what it was.

V pleased to say I will be responsible for the APSA task force on AI and Research Methods. Want to talk to as many as possible so shout if you'd like to send any of your own insights or have a short chat!

‘In her recent ethnographic study of Mansfield… the sociologist Sacha Hilhorst discovered that many local residents viewed politics entirely through the lens of ‘corruption’.’ Fascinating piece by @will-davies.bsky.social www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

My friend and colleague Remco Heesen once told me study of social epistemology of science made him "less trusting of any particular scientific paper but more impressed by science as a whole." I honestly think that's the right lesson to draw. But I think holding both attitudes doesn't come naturally.

“Given the growing prominence of podcasts within the information ecosystem, and the high levels of trust that podcasters enjoy from listeners, it is critical to better understand the role this medium plays in political communication.” - @sydneydemets.bsky.social & @emmaspiro.bsky.social

'Skills wallet' is the 'quiet bat people' of industrial policy

Re-upping this thread as you can now find recordings of the talks here ☺️ conference.publicspaces.net/en

Looks like a great opportunity! 👇

I am thrilled to share a new article in Sociological Methods & Research, “Quantifying Narrative Similarity Across Languages”. My co-first author Sol Messing and our collaborators developed a new approach to measuring “narrative similarity” between texts: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Had a brilliant time in Amsterdam representing the Responsible Innovation Centre at @publicspaces.net Conference 2025. Some highlights …

Looking forward to speaking tomorrow on the "Countering AI Harms" panel at the BRAID Community Gathering in Manchester. Will present our report: Mitigating Harms in On-Demand Delivery Platforms zenodo.org/records/1314...

Congratulations to Nic Newman and the RISJ team for another data-packed digital news report: an essential reference work

Our host department BBC R&D has just launched a great report today on many similar themes www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/...

Just arrived in Amsterdam for tomorrow’s 2025 @publicspaces.net conference Shaping Our Digital Future! Excited to be here representing the Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures 🎉

Lets talk about the future of social media at PublicSpaces 2025 #MakeSocialsSocialAgain #pubconf2025

Just arrived in Amsterdam for tomorrow’s 2025 @publicspaces.net conference Shaping Our Digital Future! Excited to be here representing the Responsible Innovation Centre for Public Media Futures 🎉

Two new reports from my team at BBC R&D... 1) "The Social Internet" asks how social media and social networks shape the environment within which the BBC (and all of us) operates and what possibilities they create for delivering new forms of public value www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/...

“How we design, deploy, and regulate these systems may not just shape the future of work or technology, but also everyday life.” - Nuanced & thoughtful piece on AI agents from my BBC R&D colleague @mathieutriay.bsky.social 🤖 www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/...

👏

Politics is downstream from the Joe Rogan podcast…