New preprint out today (osf.io/preprints/ps...). We tested whether AI agents are actually infiltrating online surveys.

Spoiler alert: they aren't

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I created a free interactive dashboard documenting all META's influence operation takedowns A searchable database and interactive dashboard collating all META's CIB and ATP reports

I've built a free open-source intelligence dashboard tracking every coordinated inauthentic behaviour (CIB) operation Meta has disclosed since 2018. 214 operations. 53 origin countries. $22.7M in ad spend. 71 reports analysed. Access it here! marcowenjones.substack.com/p/i-created-... #disinfo

“Conflict entrepreneurs”--leaders who frequently use personal insults—are damaging democracy.

An analysis of 2.2 million public statements from members of Congress finds that this type of rhetoric is linked to increased media coverage, but has no other benefits.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Hab mir auch mal einen Reim auf die jüngsten Vorfälle im Literaturbetrieb gemacht

Brilliant sweepthestrait.com

Doctoral Researcher in Computational Social Science (CSS-117) | Jobs at GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften GESIS is one of the world's leading social science infrastructure facilities, supporting researchers at all levels of their research projects with expertise and infrastructure services. We help ensure...

🚀 PhD (100%) | Disinformation, Youth & Cross-Platform Dynamics
👤 Profile: Strong affinity with CSS, Experience with digital data (social media, text corpora, etc.), Quantitative & computational methods (e.g., NLP, ML), Interest in political disinformation
📍 Cologne (up to 60% remote)
is.gd/dYxJ9L

Infrastructure Priority Programme “New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences” (SPP 2431)

#CallForProposals for the 2nd funding period in the Infrastructure Priority Programme "New Data Spaces for the Social Sciences" (SPP 2431). Objective: Expanding data sources and methods for the social sciences. Interested researchers are invited to a workshop on 8 May 26. Details: sohub.io/2s2g

Universitätsprofessur für „Quantitative Methoden der digitalen Kommunikationsforschung“ - Universität Salzburg Fachbereich Kommunikationswissenschaft an der Gesellschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Salzburg Universitätsprofessur gem. § 99 (1) UG 2002 für „Quantitative Methodender digitalen Komm...

Professur für "Quantitative Methoden
der digitalen Kommunikationsforschung" ausgeschrieben an der @unisalzburg.bsky.social

Bewerbungfrist: 01.04.; Beginn: 01.10.

Also ich sah ihn (Loriot) direkt vor mir, wie er nach der dritten Publikumsnachfrage zu den Grenzen von Satire ("aber bitte mit Beispielen!") aufsteht und in bester Pappa-Ante-Portas-Manier aufgebracht sagt: "Also ich gehe nicht, bevor Sie mir nicht endlich sagen, was ich nicht mehr sagen darf!"

+++ Mainz-Tagung 2027: CfP +++

Vom 7. bis 9. April 2027 trifft sich unsere FG zum Thema „Zur Lage der Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit: Aktuelle Konfliktlinien und Folgen für demokratische Öffentlichkeiten“ zum nächsten Mal.

CfP & Tagungs-Website sind jetzt online: ifp.uni-mainz.de/polkomm27/

I sit at a desk in a professional radio studio, facing slightly toward the camera with my hands clasped in front of me. I am wearing a blue sweater over a white button-down shirt. A studio microphone with a yellow FM4 windscreen is positioned close to my face on an adjustable boom arm. Behind me, a dark acoustic wall and a yellow panel create a high-contrast background typical of a modern broadcasting environment.

Gestern bei #FM4aufLaut ein für mich neues Format ausprobiert – eigene Rolle finden, immer eine Herausforderung.
Thema: die #TrumpEpsteinFiles – warum Datadumps ideales Material für Verschwörungsnarrative sind & welch realen moralischen Abgrund sie zugleich offenlegen.
sound.orf.at/podcast/fm4/...

New paper this week by V-Dem's director, @silindberg.bsky.social, on the the current wave of autocratization: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

Including this important statement: "...it is by my own analysis no question that the USA no longer qualifies as a democracy."

Countering the “Climate Cult” – Framing Cascades in Far-Right Digital Networks In many contemporary democracies, digital networks on the far-right have established themselves as “alternatives” to liberal institutions. Within this nexus of parties, hyper-partisan news, and soc...

6 years ago, we first noticed sudden upticks in German fringe far right networks, using terms like "climate cult" to disparage climate activists and green policy initiatives.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚀 dashboardr is out!

An #rstats package for building interactive dashboards with tidyverse-style syntax.

Launched with a fun hackathon at @ascor.bsky.social (🍕 included).

📦: favstats.github.io/dashboardr/

Big thanks to the dashboardr team, Digicomlab, and @vivifabrien.bsky.social for the logo 🎨

our polcom conference at @uni-hamburg.de has ended, but I am still fan-girling on @jolukito.bsky.social, that was such a brillient talk! very inspiring for my new research project on right-wing defensive publics with @lauraliebig.bsky.social, but also for her stance on mutual support in Academia

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an @franzreiter.bsky.social und @utarussmann.bsky.social zum Top Contribution Award unserer diesjährigen Tagung!

Ihr Vortrag zum Thema "Politische Kommunikation und Partizipation in Gemeinden" wurde von den Reviewer:innen herausragend bewertet.

Agentic AI and Social Science Research Practice I’ve been exploring AI tools of various forms for more than a year now, mostly from a critical perspective of identifying things that they cannot do (such as draw maps), but also so that I can unde…

In which @tompepinsky.com suggests that #genAI may have is uses for social scientists (and social science?) after all

We've got ISSUES. Literally.

We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?

arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563

A 🧵 1/n

Well, this is what I ended up with. Somewhat fitting as I gave up my professorship in Zurich for my husband's love of these (according to family legend, at least)

I take no leave of you, 2025. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.

Call for Applications for the Data Quality #Academy Certificate Program 2026

The call for applications for the #KODAQS Academy’s certificate program is open: www.gesis.org/en/ges...

The program is aimed at early-career researchers from various disciplines who work with social science data.

The Call for Papers and Panels for #COMPTEXT2026 in Birmingham (23-25 April) is out; feel free to circulate: shorturl.at/gRg0p!
Deadline: January 16!

Here's a peek at our new Social Media Research Toolkit, a curated collection of more than 50 social media research tools. This toolkit is unique in that it only features tried and tested tools that have been used in peer-reviewed academic studies. (ETA Jan 5, 2026) #academicsky #comsky

Ban the Business Model, Not the Child - Jessica Taylor Piotrowski, Ph.D. Australia’s new under-16 social media rules are now live. In plain terms, they function as a delay on having accounts: young people (and parents) aren’t penalized, but platforms must take “reasonable ...

Ban the Business Model, Not the Child.

Read these wise (research based) words from colleague @jesstpiotrowski.bsky.social on the social media ban in Australia

@ascor.bsky.social @antmandan.bsky.social

www.jessicataylorpiotrowski.com/2025/12/11/b...

M&K Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft

Mitten in der Pandemie startete BILD den Versuch eines eigenen Fernsehsenders. Warum das Experiment scheiterte, habe ich u. a. auf Basis von 43 Interviews rekonstruiert. Jetzt Open Access in Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft [@bredowinstitut.bsky.social] erschienen. www.inlibra.com/de/document/...

Schweiz: Palantir-Software hat verheerende Risiken Nach Risikoprüfung des Einsatzes von Palantir-Software in der Schweiz bekam der US-Konzern eine Absage, trotz jahrelanger Hofierung von Behörden und Armee. Den Eidgenossen sind die Risiken zu groß. Da...

"Die Analyse enthält auch einen 20-seitigen internen Evaluationsbericht der Armee (...) Die Militärexperten kommen zu dem Schluss, dass ein Abfluss von Daten aus den #Palantir Systemen technisch nicht verhindert werden könne." #Schweiz 🇨🇭

We're looking for a colleague (postdoc) 📢 @politikuhh.bsky.social
3+3 years
Doing your own research while teaching 2.5 courses per semester
Research agenda with links to our team (democracy, digital politics, political competition/behaviour)
DL 🗓️ 05/01
stellen.uni-hamburg.de/jobposting/6...

Foto der neuen LP von Fettes Brot plus Fettes Toastbrot

Ist denn schln Weihnachten? Hatte ein FETTES BROT in der Post!!

Happy to announce the 2nd edition of our Summer School in Computational Social Science that will take place in the beautiful Villa del Grumello on Lake Como between June 22-26, 2026!

*** DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: February 15, 2026 (firm deadline) ***

More details here:
css2.lakecomoschool.org