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John Kerr

@scicomguy.bsky.social

160 followers 120 following 14 posts

Science Lead at the Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa & Otago Uni. Researching comms and comms-ing research. Psychology, risk, and media.

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Political science 31%

Sociology 29%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · 7d

Great news! Congrats to you both!

Reposted by Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, Aleksandra Urman, John R. Kerr

Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · Sep 8

No access ⛔

New report documents the difficulty for researchers to get access to social media data. The access challenge has multiple effects, such as turning away from studying some platforms, redesigning studies, and fears of violating terms of service.

www.digmin.dk/Media/638923...

www.digmin.dk

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John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Aug 27

Not disagreeing, but genuinely ignorant here -- a) what is the problem with 'sovereign citizen' as a broad label, and b) what is the best language to describe people with these kinds of beliefs, it feels relevant to the reporting on this story.

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Matt Williams @matthewmatix.bsky.social · Aug 11

This is a nice write-up of our recent paper by PsyPost, with clear info about limitations and small effect sizes.

I would like to clarify that I am not in fact the person in the photo, though

doi.org/10.1002/ejsp...

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Reposted by Philipp Schmid, John R. Kerr

Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · Feb 1

Does microtargeting work? The idea that people can be manipulated by political messages that are furtively tailored to their personality or other vulnerabilities has triggered much concern. But how well founded are those concerns? 1/n

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John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Jul 23

Thanks for your interest in the article, and I'm sorry it didn't address the points that you wanted it to. The underlying article was about comparing *broad strategic approaches* among island nations.

John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Jul 20

'A tendency to feel victimized predicts believing in conspiracies.'

That’s the TL;DR from @marlephie.bsky.social’s great summary of new research below. Backed by a huge amount of work and international data. Grateful to have been part of this excellent study. 👍

Marlene Altenmüller @marlephie.bsky.social · Jul 18

🚨 Fresh off the press 🚨 Our #TISP spin-off paper on the relationship between #ConspiracyBeliefs and individual #victimhood is now out! doi.org/10.1002/ejsp...
1/8 🧵

Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood

Conspiracy beliefs have been linked to perceptions of collective victimhood. We adopt an individual perspective on victimhood by investigating the relationship between conspiracy beliefs and the indi....

doi.org

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Kai Sassenberg, Philipp Schmid , and 3 more Lisa W. Fazio, Kai Sassenberg, Philipp Schmid, Sylvain Delouvée, Sabrina Jasmin Mayer, John R. Kerr

Marlene Altenmüller @marlephie.bsky.social · Jul 18

🚨 Fresh off the press 🚨 Our #TISP spin-off paper on the relationship between #ConspiracyBeliefs and individual #victimhood is now out! doi.org/10.1002/ejsp...
1/8 🧵

Victims of Conspiracies? An Examination of the Relationship Between Conspiracy Beliefs and Dispositional Individual Victimhood

doi.org

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

mat marques, ph.d. @mdmarques.com · Jul 15

haven't posted in a while, so here goes.
recently had the opportunity to peer-review a thoughtful piece about autonomy and health-misinformation and #conspiracytheories (see here: linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii...) & write a commentary on it (see below or authors.elsevier.com/a/1lPXr2dv7n...)

Patient autonomy in decision-making is more than individual belief: Understanding why health misinformation and conspiracy theories are so appealing

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by David G. Rand, Gordon Pennycook, John R. Kerr

Tom Costello @tomcostello.bsky.social · Jul 9

Conspiracies emerge in the wake of high-profile events, but you can’t debunk them with evidence because little yet exists. Does this mean LLMs can’t debunk conspiracies during ongoing events? No!

We show they can in a new working paper.

PDF: osf.io/preprints/ps...

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John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Jun 29

I had a great chat with @comingupcharlie.bsky.social about why some people reject germ theory in favour of alternative views like ‘terrain theory’, and make a brief appearance in this deep dive into the NZ influencers promoting these ideas. Well worth a read. 👇

Charlie Mitchell @comingupcharlie.bsky.social · Jun 27

The Baileys went from being conventional medical doctors to sovereign citizens who deny germ theory. They now have a popular Substack where they have advised cancer patients to not get chemotherapy and for people with mental illnesses to go off their meds www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

The Baileys and their crusade against modern medicine

From their estate in rural Canterbury, former medical doctors have found a new calling: Trying to prove that viruses aren’t real.

www.thepress.co.nz

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Reposted by Shaun C. Hendy, John R. Kerr

Charlie Mitchell @comingupcharlie.bsky.social · Jun 27

The Baileys and their crusade against modern medicine

From their estate in rural Canterbury, former medical doctors have found a new calling: Trying to prove that viruses aren’t real.

www.thepress.co.nz

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John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Jun 22

Nice to see the work of the Science Media Centres highlighted by NBR review of Fox's book. But disagree with the reviewer on one point, NZ's @smcnz.bsky.social has in fact grown in scope and size, and is all the more important given fewer specialist reporters. www.nbr.co.nz/book-review/...

Front page frenzy: From Frankenfood to Covid-19 - NBR | The Authority since 1970

The National Business Review Online is New Zealand's authority in breaking business news and analysis.

www.nbr.co.nz

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Public Health Communication Centre @phcc.bsky.social · May 30

“There’s no money” isn’t economics, it’s accounting. A real Budget debate asks: are we investing our limited resources in what truly matters for future generations? #NZBudget #PublicHealth @ganeshahirao.bsky.social
www.phcc.org.nz/briefing/soc...

Social contract needed to deliver a 'no BS' public health agenda

Government Budgets need to move beyond a financial focus toward a future-focused economic approach that prioritises the capacity and capability of the nation’s productive resources, including people, ...

www.phcc.org.nz

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · May 19

Trust is a super power. Climate scientists are trusted globally, just not as much as other scientists. Check out this excellent summary of our latest research that explores the reasons why:
theconversation.com/climate-scie...
@mason4c.bsky.social
@omidghasemi.bsky.social

Climate scientists are trusted globally, just not as much as other scientists – here’s why

New research shows climate scientists are less trusted than other types of scientists. But there are big differences between countries and specific groups of people.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by Luca Rossi, Anastasia Salter, Jessica Vitak , and 3 more Luca Rossi, Anastasia Salter, Jessica Vitak, Tama Leaver, John R. Kerr, Rocco Bellanova

Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) @aoir.bsky.social · May 2

We are delighted to share the publication of Risky Research: An AoIR Guide to Researcher Protection and Safety, the culmination of over two years of collaborative effort by the AoIR Risky Research Working Group.

aoir.org/riskyresearc...

Cover Image for:

Risky Research: An AoIR Guide to Researcher Protection and Safety

AoIR Risky Research Working Group

Contributors: Alice Marwick, Dafna Kaufman, Jacob Smith, Patricia Aufderheide, Jessica
Beyer, Emma L. Briant, Coppélie Cocq, Laura Dilley, Sam DiBella, Radhika Gajjala, Kamile
Grusauskaite, Alex D. Ketchum, Zelly Martin, Janice Metzger, Erin McInerney, Rachel Moran,
John McNutt, Suay Melisa Oezkula, Victoria O’Meara, Riccardo Nanni, Carolina Parreiras,
Katy Pearce, Ryan Payne, Meredith Pruden, Christian Sandvig, Caighlan Smith, Sam Srauy,
Zeerak Talat, Leonie Tanczer, Robert Tynes, Antonia Vaughan, Shenja van der Graaf, Courtney
Vowles, Michele White.

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Erin Burrell says protect trans kids @erinkb.bsky.social · Mar 20

Here's a summary of what I think is in there too
www.taiuru.co.nz/reo-maori-in...

Reo Māori in Russian disinformation network - Taiuru & Associates Ltd

This article is about a Māori perspective of the Māori language being used in the Russian international disinformation network.

www.taiuru.co.nz

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Stephen Hill @srhastraea.bsky.social · Mar 20

Unfortunately paywalled but an important piece on Russian disinformation in te reo Māori.

h/t @scicomguy.bsky.social

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russian-d...

Russian disinformation sites target NZ with te reo Māori content

'Pravda' sites in New Zealand are part of a global 'hybrid war' campaign.

www.nzherald.co.nz

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Matt Williams @matthewmatix.bsky.social · Feb 18

It's often claimed that developing a belief in one conspiracy theory will increase the chance that someone goes on to believe other conspiracy theories... perhaps leading them down a rabbit hole of conspiracist beliefs. But does that really happen?

doi.org/10.1002/ejsp...

Does Developing a Belief in One Conspiracy Theory Lead a Person to be More Likely to Believe in Others?

The monological belief system model suggests that—for at least a subset of people—developing a belief in one conspiracy theory will cause them to be more likely to believe in others. This model has b...

doi.org

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Reposted by Amy X. Zhang, Enrique Fatás, John R. Kerr

David Rand @dgrand.bsky.social · Jan 28

🚨OpEd+data: Meta is out of step with public opinion🚨
Zuck cut moderation b/c he said people no longer want it. But he's wrong!
We polled 1k Americans and most people, including majority of Reps:
i) want content moderation
ii) don't want Community Notes w/o fact-checkers
thehill.com/opinion/tech...

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Reposted by Aleksandra Cichocka, John R. Kerr

Nour Kteily @nourkteily.bsky.social · Jan 26

New open-access paper in Annual Review of Psychology with @mjbsp.bsky.social: “Ideology: Psychological Similarities and Differences Across the Ideological Spectrum Reexamined”

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Ideology: Psychological Similarities and Differences Across the Ideological Spectrum Reexamined | Annual Reviews

A key debate in the psychology of ideology is whether leftists and rightists are psychologically similar or different. A long-standing view holds that left-wing and right-wing people are meaningfully ...

www.annualreviews.org

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Reposted by Xiaoli Nan, John R. Kerr

Sander van der Linden @profsanderlinden.bsky.social · Jan 26

The spread of misinformation and disinformation top the WEF short-term global risk report for 2025. www.weforum.org/publications...

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Reposted by Emily K. Vraga, Julia Metag, John R. Kerr , and 1 more Emily K. Vraga, Julia Metag, John R. Kerr, Zoe Leviston

Niels G. Mede @nielsmede.bsky.social · Jan 22

Now publicly available: the #TISP dataset. It contains 71,922 survey responses on public perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries. Published in @natureportfolio.bsky.social’s #ScientificData: www.nature.com/articles/s41... 📊

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John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Jan 20

Fantastic to see findings of this mammoth project published. Many, many useful insights into how the world sees scientists. Congrats to lead researchers @nielsmede.bsky.social‬ & @colognaviktoria.bsky.social‬. + Thanks to @mdmarques.com for the opportunity to be involved.

Viktoria Cologna @colognaviktoria.bsky.social · Jan 20

Our global study on the state of trust in scientists is now out in Nature Human Behaviour! 🥳

With a team of 241 researchers, we surveyed 71,922 people in 68 countries, providing the largest dataset on trust in scientists post-pandemic 👇🧵https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5

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Reposted by Andy Reisinger, John R. Kerr

Veronika Meduna @veronikameduna.bsky.social · Jan 20

I know it often feels as if scientific evidence doesn't matter any more, but a global survey of 72K people in 68 countries shows most of us trust science, and 79% of NZers want scientists to tell us about their research; by Laura Kranz & @scicomguy.bsky.social theconversation.com/despite-fear...

Despite fears of falling trust in expert knowledge, a global survey shows New Zealanders value science highly

Even if there’s no acute crisis of trust in science, we shouldn’t minimise the disproportionate impact vocal minorities who distrust science may have on policy and society.

theconversation.com

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Reposted by David Lusseau, Robert M. Ross, Janne Tukiainen , and 8 more David Lusseau, Robert M. Ross, Janne Tukiainen, Mathieu Hainselin, Raphaël Suire, Tom Broekel, Emma L. Tompkins, Ramit Debnath, Julia Metag, John R. Kerr, Zoe Leviston

Viktoria Cologna @colognaviktoria.bsky.social · Jan 20

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Health Nerd @gidmk.bsky.social · Jan 16

My new piece for Slate on the current fluoride debate and why the data shows that putting a tiny bit of fluoride in our water is good, actually.

slate.com/technology/2...

There’s a Scary Study About Fluoride and Children’s IQ Going Around. Here’s What It Really Means.

Let’s take a close look at the science.

slate.com

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Reposted by John R. Kerr

Matthew Facciani @matthewfacciani.bsky.social · Dec 19

1) Correlation ≠ Causation: Just because two things are linked doesn’t mean one caused the other.
2) The Dose Makes the Poison: Even water can be harmful in excess. Context matters!
3) "Natural" Doesn’t Mean Safer: Natural substances can be just as harmful (or more so) than synthetic ones.

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Reposted by Robert West, Emily K. Vraga, David A. Broniatowski , and 2 more Robert West, Emily K. Vraga, David A. Broniatowski, Xiaoli Nan, John R. Kerr

Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · Dec 19

Out now - National Academies consensus report on Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science 🧪

It was a privilege to serve as one of the 15 committee members from a wide range of scientific disciplines who put this report together. Quick 🧵1/

www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/und...

Cover of the report - it's in a blue/purple color scheme and shows an abstract illustration of a molecule and the title of the report "Understanding and Addressing Misinformation About Science Consensus Study Report"

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John Kerr @scicomguy.bsky.social · Dec 18

bsky.app/profile/mdma...

mat marques, ph.d. @mdmarques.com · Dec 16

Does Lower Psychological Need Satisfaction Foster Conspiracy Belief? Longitudinal Effects Over 3 Years in New Zealand

impressive paper led by @ealbath.bsky.social using longitudinal data to add evidence to the causal nature of how conspiracy beliefs and psychological needs are related
OA link below

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