I’m hiring a PhD student!
The candidate will work alongside @zefreeman.bsky.social, who is joining our research group as postdoc.
jobs.unibe.ch/job-vacancie...
Posts by Nick Ballou
Me, constructively imploring the authors of yet another moderated mediation paper to rethink their choices
[from @veryimportantpeople.dropout.tv - go subscribe to dropout, it's the only subscription I actively enjoy paying for]
I wrote and posted this to Instagram a couple of days ago and it became my most-read poem ever. I’m honored I get to feel big feelings alongside you all. I’m posting it here too and want to use this space more consistently. Hello friends ❤️
New hack: if you're unhappy with a set of findings, simply impersonate the authors and submit a retraction on their behalf
✨ problem solved ✨
Based on sample of Nintendo Switch Online players, it turns out that folks tend to return to games from "when they were 10 years old" when engaging retro games!
Latest study that I was thrilled to contribute to, out of @oii.ox.ac.uk: psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
This informational video on enshittification by the Norwegian Consumer Council is absolutely glorious.
🚨New pre-print🚨
osf.io/preprints/ps...
What if the relationship between smartphone use and mental health depends not just on specific harmful or beneficial activities, but also on how users transition between activities?
A thesis student is looking at parasocial attachment to generative AI in undergraduate and postgraduate students. The questionnaire will take about 10 minutes. Please pass the study link on to anyone who might be interested.
exp.psy.gla.ac.uk/project?para...
How can scientists avoid gaslighting people about digital harms and contribute to solutions — while also maintaining our commitment to following the evidence?
New post out with Alan Smith, manager of Community Leadership for @consumerreports.org
innovation.consumerreports.org/bad-if-true-...
Today, we presented the main results of the mental health days study 2025 (N = 8.177).
Results
> In May 2025, Austria implemented a nationwide smartphone-ban at schools
> Compared to 2024, smartphone use went down by 30 mins
> Life satisfaction went up (5.36 to 5.52)
> Depression sank (15% to 12%)
made me think about @cjvanlissa.bsky.social and co's recent work (doi.org/10.31234/osf...) as well as a much less incisive but aligned piece I wrote about problems in psych games research during my PhD (osf.io/fp89z)
While we can continue to identify the factors atplay indefinitely, this digresses the literature intoa fact-gathering exercise. And such an exerciseis not enough to spawn cumulative understanding.In the words of Poincaré, "[s]cience is built upof facts, as a house is built of stones; but an ac-cumulation of facts is no more a science than aheap of stones is a house" (Poincaré, 1905, ch. 9)
finally got around to reading @tobiasdienlin.com @yesuncomm.bsky.social & @lennertcoenen.bsky.social's "A simple future for media effects research"
Such a clear and compelling summary of why we (media researchers, but really any psych-adjacent field) are stuck and how to dig ourselves out
UX complaint of the day: can we please agree to call it "country of citizenship" instead of "nationality" in web forms so I don't have to check every time whether the available option is American/United States or Netherlands/Dutch
So...my undergrad thesis student is doing a quality analysis of studies found in meta-analyses. She identified a few and we contacted the authors to request their effect sizes and other variables for the studies in their papers.
Here's what happened:
scientiapsychiatrica.com/index.php/Sc...
What an obsequious, toadying, servile, brown-nosing, corrupt little cunt Gianni Infantino is.
The FIFA 'peace prize' is the most cringe-worthy, pathetic thing I've ever seen in my life.
Football deserves better than this travesty of a ceremony and ruling body.
Incredible interview with the Roblox CEO, immediately combative and somehow in favor of implementing prediction markets for children.
I'm generally supportive of their new age assurance safety features, but without independent auditing, my trust remains very low.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...
A screenshot of the article title "Disconnect to Recharge: Well-Being Benefits of Digital Disconnection in Daily Life" and the abstract.
📬 Pub alert
Do effects of digital disconnection interventions translate to well-being benefits in *daily life*?
Our new ESM study concludes: yes but no... kinda 👽🔋
@klingelhoefer.bsky.social @adrianmeier.bsky.social
Out now in Communication Research
doi.org/10.1177/0093...
NEW PREPRINT 💡
Together with @dougaparry.bsky.social, I just published a new preprint experimentally examining how specific normative cues on social media shape self-disclosure using an innovative simulation approach.
Link: osf.io/preprints/ps...
Read on for more information (1/9) 👇
American TV commercials have always been unhinged but I've never felt like so much of a foreigner as this past visit home. Just non-stop sports gambling and pharmaceuticals, on broadcasts like the world series with millions of children watching. A ticking time bomb with a very short fuse.
I love this so much, and will absolutely being using squad_up() instead of group_by() and main_character() instead of pull() from now on, reviewers don't @ me
hadley.github.io/genzplyr/
New release of PowerLMM.js! Browser-based power analysis for longitudinal models with dropout.
Now includes:
- Power analysis summary report
- Reproducible & shareable configs (URL/JSON)
- Calculations validated against R
- Hypothesis region visualization
powerlmmjs.rpsychologist.com
An aerial photograph of the Tilburg University campus.
I am hiring PhD candidates to study the psychology of attention & technology use at @tilburg-university.bsky.social.
We're looking for motivated & curious scholars with expertise in cognitive psychology and statistics, and offer a friendly work environment with great terms & benefits.
tiu.nu/22989
is this a separate list from a normal to-do list, or you just consciously order your todos by priority from time to time?
yes, the menial sense of accomplishment from productive procrastination definitely sustains this trick I'm playing on myself! Worth a shot to try blocking different half days for it.
oh this looks really interesting, thanks for sharing!
As a PhD student, one of my most adaptive habits was doing any <30m task immediately, to clear time for focused work.
The problem is, now <30m tasks could fill most work days, but I can't shake the habit - I want the peace of mind before undertaking chunky work. How do other people handle this?
New! Did you know gaming can improve your mental health? Watch @nballou.bsky.social @mentalhealthoii.bsky.social @oii.ox.ac.uk explaining how gaming can lift your mood in this new film from BBC Bitesize. #gaming bit.ly/4pEKWYQ
🚨 New Preprint 🚨
Prolonged Isolation is associated with an increased behavioural sensitivity to ‘Likes’ on social media.
🧵
Social media rewards are inherently social—but does posting change during social isolation, when in-person social rewards are limited?
It turns out, yes!