The BBC just published an excellent dive into Ryan's (@antisomniac.bsky.social), Kevin's (@ze.vin), and Ethan's (@ethanz.bsky.social) random sampling work on YouTube, with visualizations based on data pulled from from Kevin's fantastic TubeStats project. www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Really happy with this piece about the social media scraping crackdown, effects on research, bipartisan importance of ensuring such research is possible, & permissioned vs. unpermissioned research. @techpolicypress.bsky.social (with @ethanz.bsky.social & @ze.vin) www.techpolicy.press/ai-companies...

Researchers Ryan McGrady, Ethan Zuckerman, and Kevin Zheng argue that if we want responsible policy about social media, it begins with making it possible for American researchers to answer fundamental questions about how social media is shaping our public discourse. https://buff.ly/4hglUdV.

my favorite albums of 2024 — featuring lizzy mcalpine, charli xcx, clairo, katy kirby, carol ades, maude latour, and more! (full list in alt text)

TubeStats.org, our platform transparency dashboard for YouTube developed at @idpiumass.bsky.social, was referenced in @washingtonpost.com! www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

happy to have helped with organizing this workers’ inquiry into “ai” at umich (graphic design is my passion 😌) I’m excited to see what workers at other universities/workplaces can come up with when they work together to counter narratives of “ai” inevitability and address algorithmic harms at work!

For the December issue of The New Republic, I reviewed AI SNAKE OIL. For those learning about AI, it offers a lot: exegesis of technical details, a taxonomy to sift through different algorithmic systems, and a depoliticized history that taints the book’s analysis. newrepublic.com/article/1883...

i'm back on bluesky...with more friends this time! check out this starter pack of all my awesome information phd colleagues at umich!! go.bsky.app/QcSqJrU

Our team's paper, "Dialing for Videos: A Random Sample of YouTube," is out now in @journalqd.bsky.social. We analyzed 10,000 random YouTube videos through metadata analysis, a spoken language identification model, and hand-coding. Here are our 5 main takeaways:

VERY excited to delve into: loud men talking loudly report on exclusionary cultures of internet governance – corinne cath. https://www.criticalinfralab.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/LoudMen-CorinneCath-CriticalInfraLab.pdf

waking up and checking bluesky immediately

went to gay church (muna show) last night 🤠

this past weekend in dc, i learned that the smithsonian was named after some british guy named smithson??? and he’s entombed in this castle???

This morning, I ground some roasted beans then irrigated them with water. I drank the resulting liquid. And you won’t guess what happened next. I experienced higher levels of energy and productivity. And I want to share this experience with you. Are you ready to join me on this journey?

april 5x5!

me and my best friend (my roommate’s dog Bourbon) love to look wistfully out the window

oops @ethanz.bsky.social 🫣

saw caroline polachek in boston and her voice is incredible 😍

what should i get from costco today

wearing blue pants in honor of joining blue sky (not planned)