Hello world, I'm moving down to Melbourne in a couple of weeks right around the time I lodge my thesis for examination. If you're an Australian-based academic looking for an RA with expertise in AI, literary/critical theory and digital media, please get in touch!
Five people were killed in Kyiv.
Among them was a child.
Almost every attack, russian forces kill children.
At least 48 people were injured, including a 9-year-old boy, three police officers, and four medics who had arrived to provide assistance.
Kyiv, Chernihiv, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy💔
💔 In Odesa, thus far it is confirmed that 8 people have been killed , and another 16 people are injured after russias attack on the city.
As a result of the attack, several residental buildings as well as port- & critical, infrastructure were hit & damaged.
⚡️Update: At least 3 dead, nearly 30 injured in Russian missile attacks against Ukraine.
Russia attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles overnight on April 16, hitting residential neighborhoods in Kyiv and Dnipro. Children and first responders are among the victims.
Are you active on Bluesky, Mastodon, or similar platforms? We want to hear your opinions on safety and trust in these spaces and would be grateful for your thoughts in an asynchronous brainstorming session led by @ashwinnag.bsky.social
It was an honour helping @carforukraine.bsky.social with their important work. 🫡
Re-posting this again in case it has not come to your attention. Also looking forward to hearing about the cool stuff happening at #ATmosphereConf
See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx
We are so thrilled to have launched our Voice AI survey last week!! As part of the ADM+S's Generative Authenticity project, we're finding out everyday Australians' thoughts and feelings about Voice AI in audio media, so we can design targeted future media research. We would love to hear from you!
If you're in Australia, and have ever been an audio audience (podcast,/radio/audiobook/etc), please take a moment to complete this survey for @admscentre.org.au researchers. (You can remain anonymous.)
Twitter is 20.
A reminder that @nancybaym.bsky.social and I wrote a biography of young Twitter 2006-2016, its early joys, competing cultures & user innovation, and how things had gone awry well before Musk. It may contain more lessons for Bluesky than X at this point.
newbooksnetwork.com/twitter
2️⃣0️⃣ To mark the twentieth anniversary of the first official tweet yesterday, I've collected some of our publications commemorating and commiserating that occasion over on the blog. Farewell, #Twitter; may your end be swift and painless – and soon. ☠️
🎧 In the latest episode of #ReadThemSideways, Luke Pearson, @jeanburgess.bsky.social, @snurb.info, and I reflected on 20 years of Twitter and the communities it was home to. Not to spoil, but Musk is not the only factor that changed Twitter to what it is now.
open.spotify.com/episode/5XNG...
I want to share this very special photo with you. It embodies kindness in Ukraine this winter: this kitten was trapped for 10 hours (!) under the rubble after Russian drone attack on Kyiv region . But rescuers heard him meowing and were able to lift the big plate it was underneath and rescued him❤️🩹
This might not look like it, but it is a happy end story : this is a story of a woman who survived Russian attack . Just look how she gripped the hand of a rescuer ❤️🩹
Off to Europe tonight for a keynote at the Social Media Access Days in Frankfurt and a stint as a Mercator Fellow at ZeMKI Bremen. Ahead of my travels, I’ve posted a quick update on recent and upcoming work, including our new article in Media and Communciation.
⚡️IOC bars Ukrainian athlete’s helmet honoring athletes killed during war.
Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said on Feb. 10 that he has been barred from using a custom helmet at the 2026 Winter Olympics, that honors Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia’s war.
Listen to this critically important podcast on the background of the protests and the regime's atrocities in #Iran. It is particularly valuable because it offers practical solutions against #digitalblackout, such as following www.iranintl.com/en or helping others get online via conduit.psiphon.ca.
Something that unsettles me here lately is that I have to look elsewhere for any sense of what’s happening in Ukraine, and what’s happening in Ukraine is very bad indeed.
Inspiring talks by @ninajankowicz.com and @ahrabhikat.bsky.social (on attacks towards academics and activists and bias in computational social science, respectively) were my highlights for the day #dmrcss26
Hello World
I wanted to share an update on my project, supported by the AXA Research Fund axa-research.org postdoctoral fellowship. The project aims to identify the optimal characteristics of decentralised social media platforms that foster prosocial digital spaces (promote safe communication)
1/8
What is happening in Iran is horrifying. And the silence is deafening. The people of Iran deserve to have their fight and plight seen and heard - at the very least.
Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity by region in Ukraine from January 20, 2026, to January 26, 2026. The y-axis shows normalized connectivity from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis shows dates. The green line representing Kharkiv's connectivity remains lower than normal most of the time period due to scheduled shutdowns. A red horizontal arrow labelled “Scheduled power cuts” spans January 21 to January 24, indicating recurring connectivity reductions linked to planned electricity outages. Toward the end of the timeline on January 26, a sharp drop in connectivity is highlighted with a red circle and labelled “Attack,” indicating a sudden disruption consistent with an energy or infrastructure strike. The minimum and current connectivity levels are shown as 50% and 65%, respectively. The chart has a dark background and includes the NetBlocks logo in the lower left corner.
⚠️ Confirmed: Network data show a disruption to internet connectivity in Kharkiv, #Ukraine, following a combined UAV and heavy rocket artillery assault by Russia targeting energy infrastructure
Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Iran from January 2, 2026 to January 26, 2026. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Iran's observable internet connectivity, with a sharp drop on the evening of January 8 from high levels to near zero and only a short-lasting recovery on the morning of January 24. The drop in connectivity aligns with an internet shutdown imposed by authorities during protests across the nation. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red horizontal arrow labeled 'SHUTDOWN' indicating the period of disruption, which is ongoing.
⚠️ Update: #Iran's internet blackout continues through its 18th day, obscuring the extent of a deadly crackdown on civilians.
Meanwhile, gaps in the filternet are being tightened to limit circumvention while whitelisted regime accounts promote the Islamic Republic's narrative.
Hundreds of faces among thousands, truly gutted by the atrocities we are seeing the Iranian regime perpetrate on its own people
As Russia bombs Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in the freezing cold, local stores not only share generator power so people can charge their devices, but also open their doors to stray animals, helping them survive 🐶🐱
Its -16°C in the capital right now.
Great opportunity to work on an important project #commsky
