Koltai.bsky.social
@KolinaKoltai
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Senior Researcher & trainer @bellingcat . Misinfo, social network & anti-vax expert. 'You can't rest here. Enemies are nearby' she/her
Seattle, WA
Joined August 2016
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This has got to be the saddest day of my career so far.
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When you search "Covid-19" on Amazon, the number 1 product is from known antivaxxer Dr. Mercola.
4 out of the top 8 items are either vaccine opposed/linked to conspiratorial narratives about covid.
Amazon continues to be a venue for vaccine misinformation.
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MY WRITING AND RESEARCH IS GOING WELL AND EVERYTHING IS GOING SMOOTHLY.
ⓘ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱
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Is there a word for knowing that you have a lot of work to do but you can't seem to do it because you feel like the world has been in extended chaos, even though your work has meaning, but you want to be selfish and lay on the ground for hours?
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It's my turn to make a leaving-the-academy tweet.
My time at
@uwcip
is coming to a close & next month I'll be joining the
@birdwatch
@Twitter
team!
I'm sad to leave such wonderful colleagues who are doing amazing work in misinfo, but excited about the change!
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This is the kind of language that encourages people to try to abduct their governors.
How can any person who claims to be an expert in health care say these type of things?
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Friend of mine was a TA to the stabbing Suspect at
#UT
. Guy was normal, nice & studying for the MCAT. Name removed for privacy
#UTstabbing
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Tomorrow I'll be giving a witness testimony to the US House of Representatives on the spread of vaccine misinformation on social media.
What an absolute honor to be asked!
Watch
@KolinaKoltai
,
@BizCrimeDr
,
@AeschlimannJeff
, &
@MariaTeresa
as they discuss the impact of
#COVIDmisinformation
on the nation’s public health & ways we can work together to stop bad information from spreading, protect Americans, & save lives.
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OMG. It's out!
Still losing my mind that I got to chat with
@jvn
@CuriouswithJVN
about vaccine misinformation and vaccine hesitancy!
And he complimented me on my hair. Honestly, what more can a girl hope for?
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Stepping out of my comfort zone and made my first tiktok. 😬
Starting of easy with a list of required vaccinations to immigrate to the US.
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🫡 to my fellow contactors
Getting word that a large number of number of Twitter contractors were just laid off this afternoon with no notice, both in the US and abroad. Functions affected appear to include content moderation, real estate, and marketing, among others
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🎉New job alert 🎉
Breaking my twitter silence because now I can finally share that I've started a new position at
@bellingcat
as a researcher/trainer. My fun-employment has come to an end. 🏖️
TBD if this means more radio silence here or not.
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Solutions to dis- & misinformation need to include more than just improved moderation on social networking sites.
The vehicles in which these actors make a financial profit off of misinformation need to be addressed.
And ALL platforms need to stop recommending their content.
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I cannot contain my excitement that I got to travel to my alma mater
@UTAustin
to give a talk on the work I've been doing on vaccine misinfo & social media at
@uwcip
.
Thank you
@TaliaStroud
@EngagingNews
for hosting me.
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🫡 My time has finally run up. It was wonderful working with the
@CommunityNotes
(Birdwatch) team w/a chaotic finish at the end. I will be forever thankful for the opportunity to be a small part of this amazing program. 💙
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Digital defense was a success! I'm now Dr. Koltai! Thank you to my committee including Dr. Fleischmann, Dr. Zhang
@amelia_acker
@TaliaStroud
&
@etmeyer
.
And many thanks to the nearly 50 people who attended! Especially
@p_goulding
for dealing with me
#PhDone
#phd
#dissertation
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As always,
@davejorgenson
gets it right.
Misinformation often causes an emotional response & can definitely be used to signal when you should pause & do research before sharing.
Please use proper safety positions to prevent death in aircraft emergencies.
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This article has everything.
✅Sketchy Tech bros
✅Skirting payment rules
✅AI technology
✅Non-consensual deepfake pornography
✅International incorportation
And more!
Check out my newest piece with
@bellingcat
below 👇
In her latest research,
@KolinaKoltai
delves deep into the dirty side of AI, exposing an AI Porn company’s tool that’s being used to generate nonconsensual deepfake pornography and alleged CSAM.
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This is the paper that
#AcademicTwitter
is buzzing about today, since no one wants to explicitly say what it is.
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I lurk online because of a retracted journal article from 1998
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With my layoff, the research team at Twitter has gone from 1 to 0. I hope that one day there can be a team again.
And if you're looking to hire, 👋 I'm available!
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@zkrislov
@annejonas
There are so many homes out there that also have more than 4 people living in them.
I grew up in an intergenerational home that had 7 people in it. What about families with >2 kids? Or other combinations?
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Y'all can call me Dr. Koko now. Just imagine the UT Tower and bluebonnets behind me instead of my front door.
#UTGrad20
#PhDone
#utaustin
#covidgrad
#2020Grad
#hookem
#PhD
@UTiSchool
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Candace Owens claims to be unvaccinated but has been attending events that require attendees to be vaccinated.
So what is happening here? Is she using a fake card? Is she actually vaccinated? Or something else?
H/t Reddit
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2 things
1) It has been so frustrating to see the way Syrian war footage, esp of kids, is misused in the Gaza conflict.
2) I hated that I had to update the number of journalists who died while covering this war while this article was being written.
NEW:
@KolinaKoltai
identifies a trend of footage and images from Syria’s civil war being recycled and misattributed to the current Israel-Hamas conflict. We found deniers of chemical weapon attacks in Syria sharing false claims about Israel and Gaza.
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I guess I can announce that I will be joining
@uwcip
as one of their first postdocs along with
@jbakcoleman
and
@RachelEMoran
.
Look out for some awesome
#COVID
ー19 research from us in the future.
Going to bring the
@UTiSchool
Texas spirit to Seattle!
We are thrilled to welcome our first cohort of postdoctoral scholars,
@jbakcoleman
,
@KolinaKoltai
and
@RachelEMoran
! Learn all about these high-caliber additions to the CIP:
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What an interesting time to start at Twitter.😅 But I made it to the Seattle nest & I can't complain about the view.
#newtweeps
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OK, I got to chat with
@jvn
today for
@CuriouswithJVN
in one of the most fun interviews I have ever had.
We got to chat about the spread of vaccine misinformation across social media.
I'm already so excited for y'all to listen to the episode when it comes out!
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Well, my Twitter account got locked down for the first time because of this image of Bree Newsome removing the Confederate flag from a flagpole in front of the South Carolina State House.
I edited this version, but I fail to see how this image promotes hateful imagery.
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I'm not just burnt out.
I feel like the charred crumbs that sit in the bottom of your toaster.
It's been a long year.
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Musk told us that "exceptional" employees can work remote but everyone else would have to be in person.
If showing up 10 min late and poorly answering questions during your first all-hands is exceptional, then I think I'll be ok.
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When I came to Twitter, I didn't realize I would get to experience what it is like being on Survivor, except you're not voted out by your colleagues and chosen by the producer. And there is no immunity idol.
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Super thankful for the opportunity to be interviewed on CNN Headline News
@HLNTV
with
@LynnSmithTV
this morning about social networks and vaccines.
@CNN
It's so important to get researchers like me talking to y'all! Happy to rep
@UTiSchool
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For all the things that are going wrong at Twitter, the story of BW/CN is one of positivity. The rigor, thought, and care that was put into its development over the past 2 years would have never happened under today's leadership.
Its success should never be attributed to Elon.
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There are a bunch of images being shared in relation to the gas shortage.
@BuzzFeed
made a list of them in this article.
But a quick image search reveals that some of these pics being shared are not related to the
#gasshortage
.
That is misinformation.
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Trying to find the connection to the hotdog finger version of myself.
#EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce
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Ok, here are my quick thoughts on the J&J vaccine & it being paused over the blood clot concerns.
1. It shows how much we do actually care about vaccine safety. There have been 6 cases of this rare kind of blood clot (CVST) & the paused happened to re-evaluate current data.
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@marijel_melo
Student: "I thought this paper did a good job covering the topic even though it's old"
Paper was published in 2018. ☠️
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It finally came in! 😭 👩🎓
Since I didn't get a ceremony because of COVID, getting this makes my graduation feel real.
@UTAustin
@UTiSchool
#covidgrad
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I humbly ask that Stephanie Hsu play me in the Shonda Rhimes dramatized telling of whatever this period of time is called
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Person creates fake Dr Twitter account. Posts & retweets antivax content.
Later reveals they aren't real to show how easy it is to fake expertise online.
Antivax followers see this as an example of how easy it is to have fake provax experts online.
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Latest article by
@bellingcat
on the strike on the Jabalia Refugee camp 👇
A strike on Jabalia Refugee Camp north of Gaza City killed dozens on Tuesday, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continued advancing into the Gaza Strip
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I know this is a terrible day to announce it, but I will be defending my dissertation in 2 weeks! 🎉
5 years of work culminating on April 15th. I can't believe it is finally happening!
It will be remote via Zoom. DM me if you want to attend.
#dissertation
#phdlife
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Wait, did the UMich CSE chair just compare the allegations of sexual harassment against WL to the false accusations that black and brown men have faced, often from white women? Am I misreading this?
i'm still reading the 19-page diatribe current
@UMichCSE
chair michael wellman just circulated, in which he likens ongoing criticism of CSE—and its protection of several serial predators, including walter lasecki—to mccarthyism.
more soon. too angry.
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Hey
@AcademicChatter
,
For talks/presentations that end up getting canceled because of
#COVID19
, do you think there should be an indication of this on a CV? Or list the talk like you would any other talk?
Even for non-academic, no-proceedings?
#AcademicTwitter
#AcademicChatter
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I love this part of my job. Today
@katestarbird
and I presented about disinformation goals and tactics as a part of
#MisinfoDay2021
by
@uwcip
Hundreds (thousands?) of students watched these talks today live & hopefully are a bit more informed!
Recording:
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Going to brave the icy conditions and hand deliver our annual holiday cookie box to my neighbors. I'm especially proud of the gochujang caramel cookies which are incredibly delicious. Highly recommend!
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Spoke to
@daveyalba
at
@nytimes
for this article on misinfo about covid tests.
Misinfo about covid testing has persisted throughout the pandemic but is spiking again. The demand for testing provides an opportune moment for misinfo narratives to spread
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These are the stories that give me hope.
Even if you are so far down the rabbit hole that you thought that JFK was going to come back from the dead, there's still a chance you can chance & even become a vaccine advocate.
This mother went from a QAnon believer to a state vaccine advocate — and yesterday, her immunocompromised daughter was one of the first children in Louisiana to get vaccinated against COVID
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What are the potential dangers of misinformation?
*gestures to everything happening today*
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10 yrs cancer free! So much has happened in 10 yrs. I couldn't even legally drink when I was diagnosed.
I've gotten married, divorced, moved 12 times, MANY tattoos, went back to school & hopefully getting a PhD.
Cancer takes a lot from you but it didn't take me.
#cancerversary
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This is by far the biggest collaborative project I have been a part of. I know this report is long, but trust me, there was a lot we did not have space to include.
The
@2020Partnership
with
@uwcip
@stanfordio
@Graphika_NYC
and
@DFRLab
worked so many hours on this.
Take a 👀
At long last, the
@2020Partnership
is excited to release “The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Election,” the culmination of months of work among approximately 120 people working across 4 organizations:
@stanfordio
@uwcip
@Grapika_NYC
and
@DFRLab
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One thing that sucks about being on the job market during these
#techlayoffs
as someone who is pursuing an alt-ac career is being told you don't have enough experience despite conducting & publishing research for a decade.
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Y'all, I passed my dissertation proposal!
2 weeks of prep
20 min presentation
1.5 hours of public Q&A
4 years in the making
Now I can go and actually do my dissertation.
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Thankful that I got to be a part of this story by
@BrandyZadrozny
and
@aprilaser
for
@NBCNews
This issue of debunking the vaccine shedding claim is rooted in a deeper systematic issue with how women are treated in the healthcare system.
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Not my typical tweet:
For my birthday, my brother got me a remote portrait session with
@RamblinRosen
.
This is one of my favorite photos of me...ever.
It is worthy enough to be my new Twitter profile pic?
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My dissertation is taking an emotional toll on me. I read & think about anti-vax content all day
With my upcoming deadlines, I don't have the luxury of my normal "detox" sessions or limiting my intake.
This is an unintended side effect of the PhD
@AcademicChatter
#phdlife
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This is a pretty cool annotated version of
@daveyalba
's article showing how they debunked misinformation around COVID tests. Great to see the process of how this article was written.
Plus, I get called an expert. 😁
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Thankful to be interviewed for this new piece by
@BrandyZadrozny
about the recent culling of anti-vax groups on FB.
This is a huge step, but the damage may already have been done. Vaccine hesitant people are still here.
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I often felt like a scientist in the disaster movie who knew something was a big problem that we were ignoring.
That was vaccine misinformation on social media, which I started researching in 2015.
Then the disaster hit. And the antivax playbook worked perfectly.
After my ranting thread about social science & the pandemic the other night, folks asked me to write it up off-Twitter so it can shared elsewhere for those not on this platform. Here's it is plus some extra commentary. I'll share resources soon too.
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City of Denver: We're doing
#ShelterInPlace
- Liquor stores & weed shops are non-essential and will be closed until at least April 10
Denver:
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The promo post on Instagram for my episode with
@jvn
@CuriouswithJVN
is so damn cool.
Might need to get it printed and framed.
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Certainly, there must be jobs available for researchers who specialize in vaccine misinformation on social media?
(this is my way of saying to please send me those job listings)
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There is no perfect way to measure the impact of disinformation, but there is certainly an impact.
Both
@katestarbird
and I were interviewed by
@RuthReader
for
@FastCompany
@uwcip
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I hate how absolutely unfair everything is and feeling powerless to do anything about it.
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Love to see it.
@LukaVierroth
using TikTok to solicit people to fill out surveys for his dissertation. And he got 30,000 responses in a day! Absolutely mind blowing. But somehow, his
@Linktree_
link with the surveys got banned.
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"No one wants to see a child pass away from something that could have been preventable."
1) Vax groups are powerful bc of the affordances of FB to find a like-minded community
2) FB groups are an information exchange hub for both sharing & finding alternative info
#vaccines
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Now that I'm no longer at Twitter, I'm happy to start talking to journalists again about vaccine misinformation.
Major thank you to
@TwitrHagen
@NPR
for speaking to me for this story about how
@HamlinIsland
's collapse was weaponized by anti-vaxxers
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I usually only use quotes from interview participants, but I loved this one from
@snurb_dot_info
's book, I just had to include it in my next talk.
(Image: screen w/text: "we cannot absolve ourselves from the mess we are in by simply blaming technology" -Axel Bruns)
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Some personal health things reminded me that life is short & chaotic.
Taking time for the calm is always worth it.
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I guess the DC Police doesn't have a person monitoring TheDonald. If you look, there is plenty of PUBLIC conversation about a potential breach and occupying the Capitol prior to yesterday's events. (see more pics in thread).
(DC POLICE) MPD CHIEF : "There was no intelligence that suggests that there would be a breach of the US Capitol. "
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@CA_AstroComm
Hi! I'm Kolina and love studying unique groups and decision making! I'm in the middle of data collection for my dissertation on the anti-vaccine community on Facebook. I focus on social networks, human values & dissent from the mainstream.
I'll talk your ear off about it!
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Happy 80th, Dad.
The ICU isn't the best way to celebrate this milestone, but happy that he made it here.
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CGI imagining of what my last day on
@UW
campus would look like. It's my last official day at
@uwcip
and I'm so sad to leave having done my entire postdoc overwhelming remote.
I had an amazing experience here which I am forever thankful for. On to the next chapter!
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Last night I finished a full rough draft of my dissertation. 🎉
Today I'm rewarding myself by working on everything I ignored while writing the dissertation.
#phdlife
#Academia
#dissertation
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Sometimes it is hard to find the "wins" in fighting misinformation, but this is one of them!
As of today, Oct. 13th, the KING RADIO channel has been terminated by YouTube and its videos are no longer available. Nguy Vu's nephew posted a video on his personal channel to blame "communists" and to claim that Vu is attempting to get the channel reinstated.
@LastWeekTonight
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Erin Elizabeth is a major vaccine misinformation spreader. She has repeated spread misinformation about vaccines over the years.
Amazing to see that she is finally deplatformed.
But also, how does a major anti-vax figurehead have no prior violations?!
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First bake of 2023! Started the dough for English muffins last night and "baked" them in the pan for New Year Day brunch.
Still need to work on shaping, but flavor is great & it's dairy free.
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So excited that this paper is out in the world! This may be the last academic paper that my name is on for a long time, so I'm happy to see it finally out in the world!
Take a peek if content moderation, social media, and anti-vaccine content are your 🍞🧈!
.
@izzi_grasso
and
@kolinakoltai
and I have a new article out in
@SocialMedia_Soc
- “Folk Theories of Avoiding Content Moderation: How Vaccine-Opposed Influencers Amplify Vaccine Opposition on Instagram”
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I'm so excited to have been accepted to the 2020 Cornell summer school on Designing Technology for Social Impact!🎉
Only question is if/when it'll be happening bc of
#COVID19
.
@CornellCIS
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I am beyond thrilled to have been awarded a place in this year's
@oiioxford
Summer Doctoral Programme. I'll get to represent the
@UTiSchool
and share my work on scientific decision making, human values, and social media.
#oiisdp
#oxford
#phdlife
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Here’s the text of the email Musk sent to Twitter staff overnight.
Those who don’t commit to being “extremely hardcore” by 5pm ET today must leave the company. ‼️
Story:
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Oh man. This is my "rogue scientist" framework!
There is this huge appeal of the narrative of the rogue scientist who is out there fighting for truth and science against the elite.
It's one way how the antivax community argues that they are pro-science.
I saw this nonsense floating around a conspiracy nut board, and it made something click for me: These folks are basically operating on cinematic epistemology. They believe what would be true if the news were a Hollywood movie.
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I've been working at UW for over a year and today I finally got to go inside the ischool building.
Even though I'm enjoying the beautiful day on campus, I can't help but feel exhausted about everything in the world. Excited for the Fall quarter, but dreading the crises to come.
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Me watching everyone post their new job announcements on LinkedIn
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