fantastic op-ed from my D&S colleagues Ranjit Singh and Livia Garofolo about the needs of guardrails on general purpose LLMs for mental health undark.org/2025/09/18/o...

hey y'all, working on an R&R and I need some good criticisms of CASA (computers as social actors) applied to AI. I'm having a really hard time finding good articles or overviews. Any suggestions? I already have Suchman.

First up, on September 5 @ 6 pm ET: a grounding conversation about how AI technologies are reshaping daily life, featuring ‪D&S director of research @alicetiara.bsky.social, advisors @merbroussard.bsky.social & Mimi Ọnụọha, & board member @geomblog.bsky.social. www.showclix.com/event/unders...

Hi hello @onthemedia.bsky.social is rerunning some interviews I did. One with @beccalew.bsky.social and another with Bluesky CEO @jay.bsky.team. The episode also features @mmasnick.bsky.social, and @mollyfication.bsky.social’s excellent interview with @amandahess.bsky.social. Great show! Listen:

I'm looking for smart people doing interesting work on what AI means for scientific knowledge production & epistemology.. any recs? I already know @mjcrockett.bsky.social of course

New work from @alicetiara.bsky.social‬, Courtlyn Pippert, Elaine Schnabel, and me recently published in Social Media + Society! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... (1/6)

Data Centers Aren't the Future of American Prosperity- @tamigraph.bsky.social & @mwoluchem.bsky.social bust the myths of data centers: they don't massively increase jobs, they don't increase clean energy investment, and they don't benefit local communities! OH SNAP datasociety.net/library/data...

New: As Trump prepares to unveil his "AI Action Plan," more than 80 labor, environmental, consumer and tech watchdog groups have signed on to a "People's AI Action Plan" that calls for regulations that put ordinary people's interests over those of the industry. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

I am looking for an assistant! D&S is hiring a research assistant to the director of research (ME). This is primarily a administrative position, but includes light research & editing. Fully remote. Perfect for a pre-doc. Please forward! job-boards.greenhouse.io/datasocietyr...

Villanova University, where I am currently working, has a position in digital sociology and/or STS studies. I am not on the search committee and happy to answer any questions you may have. www.higheredjobs.com/state/detail...

I am so incredibly sad to hear about the passing of Brandi Collins-Dexter, a wonderful writer, researcher, and activist. My thoughts go out to her friends, family, and colleagues.❤️

User-generated videos of aggressive ICE raids remind Director of Research @alicetiara.bsky.social of how the Black Lives Matter mvmt used eyewitness video to reveal the reality of a problem. “These videos show this isn’t business as usual,” she tells @nbcnews.com‬. www.nbcnews.com/specials/tru...

After Trans People, Trump Now Erasing Bisexual People From Stonewall National Monument www.erininthemorning.com/p/after-tran...

TIL that Usenet was invented by UNC-CH/Duke to share articles across campuses. How did I never know this?

In the new TMK, I'm joined by @alicetiara.bsky.social —research director at @datasociety.bsky.social — to chat about a new report she co-authored on how generative AI is now unleashing a new world of fraud, making it easier than ever to scam-at-scale. soundcloud.com/thismachinek...

BIG NEWS: After a long investigation we have uncovered that Axon's Draft One--a program that uses genAI to write police reports based on body-worn camera audio--is *designed* not to retain the data on which parts were written by an officer and which parts were written by AI. A looming disaster.

I chat with @jathansadowski.com about AI, scams, and conspiracy theories on the new ep of This Machine Kills. soundcloud.com/thismachinek... and don't forget to read @lanalanalana.bsky.social and I's report on ScamGPT: datasociety.net/library/scam...

Wow, the film/media/comm list of AUP was sold to Taylor & Francis (huge conglom that makes $$$$ on research that we do on our own dime, submit for free, revise for free, review for free, and pay for OA)- a bunch of editors promptly quit & I suspect more are forthcoming. Good for them

As products like Duolingo and Audible integrate more AI into their products, some customers are unhappy, feeling like “there is something about these products that was interesting or special that’s lost to AI,” D&S's @alicetiara.bsky.social says. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Now disinformation is a forbidden word the regime has to twist themselves into knots to avoid using it.

ONCE MORE FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK, I'M BEGGING YOU

Yay! It's a start at least. Better news than HUD kicking NSF out of its building.

This @talkingpointsmemo.com essay is a great example of the limits of "alignment" concepts and metrics for understanding the genuine risks of AI. They get the phenomenon entirely correct, but miss the fact that this is actually a case of successful alignment. talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/groks-w...

I can’t say enough good things about ranked choice voting and how pleasurable it made this primary- the coalition between Lander and Mamdani was wonderful; great convos with friends about the candidates; you could have a different slate than a friend and it was NBD at all (assuming no Cuomo)

I fucking love Brad Lander

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: @authorsalliance.bsky.social, with the support of @knightfoundation.org, is offering grants of up to $20,000 to catalyze research projects at the intersection of artificial intelligence, copyright law, and the public interest.

Working on platform governance? Join for PlatGovNet 2025 Free online conference Dec 1-2 Extended abstracts (800-1000 words) due Sep 2 Amazing community, opportunity to share work, get feedback, meet others working in this area. Glad to be part of organizing it Details: platgov.net/conferences/...

As we head to Election Day, for folks who voted early, thank you. I know some folks have not yet made up their minds. I am making an appeal to you. Please do not rank Cuomo. I have worked with every single one of the candidates for mayor. I will tell you he does not like us.

inspired by @classicweb.site which posts wonderful screenshots of late 90s/early 00s personal homepages and blogs, who besides @kottke.org is still homepaging and/or blogging? Hasn't turned into an influencer, journalist, YouTuber, academic, or retiree?

Incredibly moving essay, thanks @dannagal.bsky.social <3 <3 <3

It's easy to forget now but we had decades of steady advancement on trans rights. The 2016 bathroom bills invited huge backlash! It was only after the media constructed sports and youth medications as 'debates' that opposition moved from the far right to the polite center.

New policy brief: There's no reason to ban state AI regulation. Our fabulous policy team Brian Chen and Serena Oduru bust the myths underpinning the Big Beautiful Bill: datasociety.net/library/ther...

Once again: these bans are based on strategically-spread DISINFORMATION not anything medical! There is a large, wide, and successful anti-trans disinfo campaign that we (scholars/activists) are failing to fight successfully. Because it's being supported by both right and centrist media.

Huge fan of Jules Gill-Peterson’s work and this profile is ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

If you’re leaving #ica25 today get to the airport early!!! It is CRAZY busy, even the Clear line is like 30m

Bye #ica25! I had such a wonderful time with dear friends old and new. Sorry to all y’all I didn’t see! Hope to see some of you in Brazil for AOIR!! I leave Denver rejuvenated and inspired.

Folks at #ica25 might wanna check out @ijoc-usc.bsky.social’s Special Section on True Costs of Misinformation, guest edited by me and @bostonjoan.bsky.social. The collection critiques mainstream frameworks of disinfo studies, written during a more hopeful "peak moment": ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc

No Kings was 40 times the size of the biggest day of Tea Party protests in 2009

Love seeing They Live referenced in a panel on populist messaging! #ica25

Wow @reedvanschenck.bsky.social absolutely killing it on the top papers of ethnicity race & comm panel w their paper on white supremacists, Telegram, and interfaces

When D&S researchers Ranjit Singh, @livgar.bsky.social‬, @briana-v.bsky.social‬, and @emnetspeaks.bsky.social‬ set out to interview people about their use of mental health chatbots, they encountered — and were fascinated by — a particular kind of AI-enabled deception. datasociety.net/points/chatb...

#ica25 folks: @zephoria.bsky.social and I are gearing up for the No Kings protest on Sat! It’s 10min walk from the venue. Bring water, sunscreen, phone chargers: it’s gonna be HOT. Join us!!!

NYT on January 7 if things had gone slightly differently: "Democrats Enter Risky Political Terrain as Protests Grip Capitol" Everyone in the media should read and reflect on @shannimcg.bsky.social on democracy-framed coverage vs. point-counterpoint and strategic game frames osf.io/preprints/so...

OMG, the organizer of a panel I'm on asked me to pick a walk-up song and all work immediately ceased as I flew to Spotify to decide. (My ACTUAL walk-up song in that it always motivates me is Work Bitch by Britney but that's not very profesh)

Want to hear me talk about harassment, disinformation, and other light-weight, fun filled topics for 45 minutes? I had a great time talking to Seth Camillo and Caroline Risberg for The Internet is Crack pod: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQvz...

Officially live w/ @alicetiara.bsky.social‬, in the IJOC's special section on the True Costs of Misinformation! Check it out to understand the “redpilling” process (even in "conversion" moments), & how evidence (regardless of veracity) justifies indefensible beliefs. ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

NEW: D&S submitted a statement for the record for the House Oversight Committee hearing on govt use of AI. We argue that DOGE is a privacy nightmare, AI doesn't make government more efficient, and DOGE is violating Trump's own AI procurement regulations: datasociety.net/announcement...

It’s important that we name that sociologists (including Jess) have been raising the alarm about these trends toward misogyny in young men and boys for a decade. This isn’t something that sprung up out of nowhere. It has been brewing for their whole adult lives.

By touting DOGE as a tech project driven by "AI-first strategies", efficiency mandates, and entrepreneurial logic, Musk handed the GOP a framework for gutting the government. Now they can use it whether Musk is there or not. As @wired.com reports, even with Musk gone, DOGE is "busier than ever."

We need to encourage our kids to be independent, not barricade them inside. Not sure what's worse, stranger danger human trafficking myths or neighborhoods designed for cars > people (Note: these parents are Black which probably pays a role in them being charged with this ridiculous not-a crime)