Am I the only one who thinks "terrorist" attacks on US soil are inevitable at this point? Perhaps shoe-bomber pathetic or 9/11 catastophic (impossible to predict) but Trump/Hegseth seem to be begging for it with the indisciminate slaughter and transparent xeonophibia.
The political effects of X's feed algorithm https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2 Received: 16 December 2024 Accepted: 4 January 2026 Published online: 18 February 2026 Open access โข Check for updates Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.
A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitterโs algorithmic feed significantly shifts peopleโs political views to the right.
Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement.
This is one of the most concerning papers Iโve read in awhile.
Justin Ling, who recently also took a job at the Toronto Star, also has a substack and has been freelance for most of his career. substack.com/@justinling
This Thursday, Feb. 12th, 4:30 pm EST, in person and on zoom. www.uwo.ca/events/2026/...
Thank you for your generous and kind words, especially given your situation. If you can maintain a generous spirit under the circumstances, then of course so can I. Towards a new sunrise.
In the postapocalyptic show Fallout, a character in occupied Canada tells her daughter to do whatever it takes to survive in the US, even murder: "don't think of them as human beings, think of them as Americans." It's funny and appropriate to the series. But it also breaks my heart that it is so.
In sum: obeying in advance comes naturally to business leadership.
#5 Everything is a transaction. At the end of every meeting, he wants to be able to announce that thereโs been some kind of deal.
#4 Medium matters. If you donโt want to call him directly, speak to him through the "outlets he watches and admires."
#3 Educate. โVery carefully let Trump knowโ for example, โwhat the effects of some of the tariffs might be for actual consumers.โ Do not say tariffs are bad policy.
#2 Quietly maneuver; get in the room with Trump, let investors know youโre there, โsignal allegiance to the MAGA base,โ perhaps by giving a gift to Trump.
Over on my fb feed, I saw a lushly produced promotional video for Bloomberg news, offering 5 pointers for business leaders on how to deal with Trump. I took notes. Tagline: โDoing business today means navigating the whims of the most powerful man in the world." #1 1) Find a way in, find contacts.
We are not the first people, or the first country, to suffer under a tyrannical government that does not respect our lives, or our rights.
There is a method for how to effectively resist, and eventually topple, such a regime. We can learn from others who came before us.
This is my favorite guide.
I have been having that nightmare for 35 years. I'm a professor and I'm 70. ;)
Still on point.
The women who wrote stories for the New Yorker from the late '40s thru the '60s don't get enough credit for the variety and innovation of their work. Everybody talks about "the NYer story" and Cheever, Updike, etc. when the exciting history is Jackson, S.T. Warner, Eliz. Taylor, Mavis Gallant, etc.
๐ Happy to see ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ต make ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด' 100 Best Books in 2025!!! @hilltimes.com @ubcpress.bsky.social
Incredible book, if you havenโt seen it. I think about the โtechnologically precocious boyโ all the time.
BREAKING: WELL, WELL, WELL! Newly unearthed footage shows Pete Hegseth saying EXACTLY what the six Democrats said in their video that prompted Trump and Hegseth to hysterically smear them as traitors!
You must refuse illegal orders.
Wrote about this in February. The admin will argue, e.g., that gangs and immigrants are waging war, so it's all ok. We should be telling a plain language story in which war is one thing, crime is another, and it helps us all to be clear about the difference. streeter.fims.uwo.ca/2025/02/10/h...
I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ
Ocasio-Cortez Highlights Economic Threat from AI Bubble, says companies should get no bailout when the bubble pops. ocasio-cortez.house.gov/media/press-...
Has anyone written the etymological history of โcomputeโ as a noun?
Academic political economists should want to be actively participating in discussions like this excellent one between JS and the former head of the FTC. Maybe coming up with the best definition of which phase of capitalism we're in can wait. thelibertypear.com/2025/11/15/l...
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
@fordhampress.bsky.social is having a 25% off sale, and free shipping to the U.S. AND Peculiar Satisfaction is available! Jefferson and the making of US libraries, archives, and museums. Thinking with Walter Benjamin, Sylvia Wynter, and others. fordhampress.com/peculiar-sat...
Canadian govt is committing money to recruit researchers from the US and elsewhere to Canadian universities. Includes grad students too!
The idea that machines will be as smart asโor smarter thanโhumans has hijacked an entire industry. But look closely and youโll see itโs a myth that persists for many of the same reasons conspiracies do.
Read the story: www.technologyreview.com/2025/10/30/1...
For the love of God stop calling capitalism โTechnofeudalism.โ This is not a mutant regression off the track of benign capitalismโs progress to utopia. This is capitalism doing capitalism.
I found this very moving and thought provoking. Things are happening among the American Jewish community. (FYI it's long, and I had to get deep into it to really appreciate it.) youtu.be/X-eLWZLs8Q8?...
