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David Lazer

@davidlazer.bsky.social

6.4K followers 1.4K following 250 posts

computational social scientist

David Lazer is a distinguished professor of political science and computer and information science at Northeastern University, as well as the co-director of the NULab of Texts, Maps, and Networks. .. more

Political science 23%

Communication & Media Studies 18%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Reposted by David Lazer, Mel Bartley, Robb Willer

Chris Bail @chrisbail.bsky.social · 2d

Junior and senior faculty positions in computational social scientists at Bocconi, one of the world's best universiites: Assistant Prof: jobmarket.unibocconi.eu?id=841
Associate/Full Prof: jobmarket.unibocconi.eu?id=843

Job Market - Bocconi University

Recruiting, Faculty, Post-doc Grant, Collaboration Contracts

jobmarket.unibocconi.eu

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Reposted by David Lazer, Daniel W. Drezner

Sam Cohen @samcohen.bsky.social · 2d

👏👏👏

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Reposted by David Lazer, Will Jennings, Efrén O. Pérez , and 5 more David Lazer, Will Jennings, Efrén O. Pérez, Calvin K. Lai, Ryan Enos, Andrew L. Whitehead, Leticia Bode, Sebastian Stier

Tiago Ventura @tiagoventura.bsky.social · 2d

How common are “survey professionals” - people who take dozens of online surveys for pay - across online panels, and do they harm data quality?

Our paper, FirstView at @politicalanalysis.bsky.social, tackles this question using browsing data from three U.S. samples (Facebook, YouGov, and Lucid):

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 3d

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

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Reposted by Norbert Schwarz, David Lazer

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 5d

@aacu.org has stepped up & called the Trump "compact" for higher ed what it is: "The compact is, in effect, an ultimatum...This is not constructive engagement." Big question is where is @aau.edu? If your university is part of AAU, write to your president & trustees now.
www.aacu.org/newsroom/aac...

AAC&U Statement on the Trump Administration’s “Compact for… | AAC&U

AAC&U Statement on the Trump Administration’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education”

www.aacu.org

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Reposted by David Lazer

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 5d

on.ft.com/48hiEgC "It warns of “external dependencies of the AI stack” — the infrastructure and software needed to build, train and manage AI applications — which it says “can be weaponised” by both “state and non-state actors”, posing a risk to supply chains."

EU pushes new AI strategy to reduce tech reliance on US and China

Brussels to unveil plan targeting digital sovereignty as it warns technology can be ‘weaponised’ by geopolitical rivals

on.ft.com

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Reposted by Anna O. Law, David Lazer, David Brady , and 9 more Anna O. Law, David Lazer, David Brady, Juliet B. Schor, Ken Caldeira, Steve Peers, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Scott A. Imberman, Dean Eckles, Daxton R. Stewart, David Darmofal

John Schwartz @jswatz.bsky.social · 7d

“No self-respecting university could ever accept something like this,” said Lee Bollinger, a First Amendment scholar and former Columbia University president. “Trying to protect conservative ideas against being ‘belittled’ — that’s about as violative of the First Amendment interests as you can get.”

Colleges weigh whether to sign onto Trump plan or forgo federal benefits

A new proposal from the Trump administration would give colleges funding advantages if they adopt conservative priorities.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by David Lazer

Daniel Aldrich @danielaldrich.bsky.social · 7d

New #chapter from Farmer et al: Social Connection in Contemporary Life: A Case Study of Urban Fringe Suburb Residents
TL;DR: Digital platforms emerge as integral to modern social connection, maintaining existing relationships and building new ones
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

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Reposted by David Lazer, Scott L. Greer, Joshua Goodman , and 9 more David Lazer, Scott L. Greer, Joshua Goodman, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Iveta Silova, Johann N. Neem, Scott A. Imberman, Erol Akçay, Kate Starbird, Victor Pickard, Todd Hedrick, David Darmofal

AAUP @aaup.org · 7d

The Trump admin’s offer to give preferential treatment to institutions that toe the party line reeks of bribery in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological agenda.

This is corruption.

Adherence to ‘loyalty oaths’ would usher in a new era of thought policing in American higher education.

Universities Must Reject Trump Admin 'Loyalty Oath' Compacts

The AAUP and AFT warn that the Trump administration’s offer to give preferential treatment to colleges and universities that court government favor in exchange for allegiance to a partisan ideological...

www.aaup.org

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Reposted by David Lazer, Dawn J. Wright, Shelly Lundberg , and 3 more David Lazer, Dawn J. Wright, Shelly Lundberg, Brian Keegan, Jason Lyall, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 8d

A moment that calls for collective action… to reject this transparent attack on academic freedom.

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 8d

Trump's higher ed ransom note is here - everyone would have to acquiesce to their unprecedented demands or not be "given priority for grants," plus they can demand "reimbursement" for "violations" www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

A mechanism to enforce fealty. An attack on academic freedom and democracy

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 8d

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Reposted by David Lazer

Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 8d

The richest 20% of nations, with 15% of the global population, contribute more than 40% of annual ecological overshoot; the poorest 40% of countries, with 42% of the global population, experience more than 60% of social shortfall 🧪
A new analysis by Fanning & Raworth
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries monitors a world out of balance - Nature

A revised ‘Doughnut’ providing a visual assessment of trends in social deprivation and planetary degradation over the past two decades shows more than doubling of global GDP accompanied by accelerating ecological overshoot but only a modest reduction in human deprivation.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by David Lazer

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 8d

Paul Barrett reviews Nick Clegg’s new book, which is titled How to Save the Internet: The Threat to Global Connection in the Age of AI and Political Conflict. www.techpolicy.press/in-new-book-...

In New Book, Nick Clegg Can't Stop Spinning Meta | TechPolicy.Press

Clegg's new book fails to accomplish its stated goals and marks a new low for Silicon Valley arrogance, writes Paul M. Barrett.

www.techpolicy.press

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Reposted by David Lazer, Mark J. Brandt, Miranda J. Lubbers

Zachary Neal @zpneal.bsky.social · 9d

Want to promote transparency and clarity in network research by helping develop 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 (𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐃)?

Sign up to get involved here: tinyurl.com/help-with-GR...

▪️ All career stages welcome
▪️ All fields welcome
▪️ Be compensated for your time

GRAND Recruitment

Complete this short questionnaire to help develop Guidelines for Reporting About Network Data (GRAND).

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by David Lazer

Alan Jagolinzer @jagolinzer.bsky.social · 9d

Harvard's Elizabeth J. Perry (2019):

"...authoritarian rule [can be] buttressed by a pattern of educated acquiescence, with academia acceding to political compliance in exchange for the many benefits conferred upon it by the state."

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Educated acquiescence: how academia sustains authoritarianism in China - Theory and Society

As a presumed bastion of the Enlightenment values that support a critical intelligentsia, the university is often regarded as both the bedrock and beneficiary of liberal democracy. By contrast, authoritarian regimes are said to discourage higher education out of fear that the growth of a critical intelligentsia could imperil their survival. The case of China, past and present, challenges this conventional wisdom. Imperial China, the most enduring authoritarian political system in world history, thrived in large part precisely because of its sponsorship of a form of higher education closely tied to state interests. Although twentieth-century revolutions brought fundamental change to Chinese politics and pedagogy, the contemporary party-state also actively promotes higher education, cultivating a mutually advantageous state-scholar nexus and thereby reducing the likelihood of intellectual-led opposition. As in the imperial past, authoritarian rule in China today is buttressed by a pattern of educated acquiescence, with academia acceding to political compliance in exchange for the many benefits conferred upon it by the state. The role of educated acquiescence in enabling Chinese authoritarianism highlights the contributions of a cooperative academy to authoritarian durability and raises questions with prevailing assumptions that associate the flourishing of higher education with liberal democracy.

link.springer.com

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Reposted by David Lazer, David H. Kaye, David Murakami Wood , and 1 more David Lazer, David H. Kaye, David Murakami Wood, Kate Starbird

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 9d

Very proud of my colleagues right now--especially @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social and @alexabdo.bsky.social. But we could not have got this far without the superb trial lawyers at Sher Tremonte. Grateful to them for all of the time and energy they put into this case. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by David Lazer, Will Jennings

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 11d

"Living through the rise of a dictatorship just means inhabiting a space that is gradually shrinking. There’s no point in resisting, not at first. You just make do with whatever breathing room you still have—until you lose that too."

𝔸𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕒𝕨𝕟 @amberdawn1116.bsky.social · 15d

"The disintegration of a democracy is a deceptively quiet affair," Gisela Salim-Peyer writes of her experience growing up in Venezuela.

Authoritarianism Feels Surprisingly Normal—Until It Doesn’t

Life in Venezuela was deceptively mundane. Then everything collapsed.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by David Lazer

Center for Media Engagement @engagingnews.bsky.social · 11d

How can local news thrive?
A study by @EmilyVanDuyn and @TaliaStroud finds that engaged journalism — where journalists connect more directly with communities — may be part of the answer.

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Reposted by David Lazer

Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 11d

“I’m all for unifying, I’m all for bridging gaps, but not at the expense of my neighbor’s humanity. I just can’t.” Thank you for this, Ta-Nehisi Coates. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-ta-nehisi-coates.html

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Reposted by David Lazer

NY Gal 🌊🗽 @nygal.bsky.social · 11d

#Mets😔

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Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Marc Lynch, Jan W. Mueller , and 8 more Stephen M. Walt, Marc Lynch, Jan W. Mueller, David Lazer, Tom Clark, David Rothschild, Laurent Pech, David R. Miller, Michael Zimmer, Kate Starbird, Greg Linden

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 11d

Trump is building a personalist regime where every university must bend the knee or lose funding and every business must bend the knee or face tariffs, H-1B fees, and regulatory blackmail. You can't cover each domain in isolation; they are all the same story.

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 11d

Awarding scientific grants based on scientific merit? That pales in comparison to my strategy, giving grants based on political loyalty

www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Wp EXCLUSIVE
White House considers funding advantage for colleges that align with Trump policies The proposal could potentially transform the government's vast research funding operation, which has long awarded university grants based on scientific merit.
Today at 6:00 a.m. EDT

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David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 11d

Tricky issue around joint majors, eg ppe, which have proliferated.

Reposted by David Lazer, Mary Feeney, Joshua Goodman , and 1 more David Lazer, Mary Feeney, Joshua Goodman, Rachel S. Franklin

Ben Schmidt @bschmidt.bsky.social · 12d

@pengzell.bsky.social asks about the social sciences, which I haven't looked at in a while. Indexing these against 2008 rather than peak, and struck that economics has been on a downslope for 6 years now, while psychology, the worst discipline, continues to rise rapidly.
bsky.app/profile/peng...

Chart titled 'Quality of Social Science Disciplines inversely correlated with change since 2008', showing that Criminology and Psychology have increased , economics is steady, and Polisci, anthro, IR, and Sociology are all down 30-40%

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Reposted by David Lazer, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 7 more David Lazer, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Fabián Muniesa, Joseph Schafer, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Timothy D. McBride, Dunlap, Peter Bergman, David Darmofal

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 12d

“They’re, they’re animals anyway. That’s what I would tell my kids all the time,” said the ICE agent, according to body cam footage. spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-...

Man detained in Cato ICE raid wrongfully deported, separated from his family

Body camera footage released from the raid shows agents referring to immigrants as 'animals.'

spectrumlocalnews.com

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Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Anupam Chander , and 32 more Anne Applebaum, Joanna Bryson, Anupam Chander, Colin F. Camerer, David Lazer, Brendan Nyhan, Scott L. Greer, Jonathan Wolff, Harvey J. Miller, Dustin Mulvaney, Fabián Muniesa, Jacob Montgomery, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph Schafer, Juan Cole, Jonathan Hopkin, Melanie C. Green, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Christine Kooi, Bessma Momani, Aaron Gerow, David Murakami Wood, Kate Starbird, Henry Jones, Nils Zurawski, Woodrow Hartzog, Clayton Littlejohn, Blair Fix, Geneviève Gore, Albin Wagener, Pádua Fernandes, Pepper D. Culpepper, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Farah Mendlesohn, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 12d

Larry Ellison envisions a surveillance state in which techbros rule. '“Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on,” Ellison said in an hour-long Q&A during Oracle’s Financial Analyst Meeting last week.'

Larry Ellison predicts rise of the modern surveillance state where ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ | Fortune

Oracle's Larry Ellison believes citizens and police alike will be under constant surveillance of each other.

fortune.com

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Reposted by David Lazer

David Bau @davidbau.bsky.social · 12d

Who is going to be at #COLM2025?

I want to draw your attention to a COLM paper by my student @sfeucht.bsky.social that has totally changed the way I think and teach about LLM representations. The work is worth knowing.

And you can meet Sheridan at COLM, Oct 7!
bsky.app/profile/sfe...

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Reposted by David Lazer

Guy Grossman @guygrossman.bsky.social · 12d

Dictatorships need to be in constant state of emergency to justify state violence against opponents and thus Trump keeps manufacturing crises. He is literally declaring war on those who don’t support him.

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Reposted by David Lazer, Rosemary A. Joyce, Amy W. Ando , and 2 more David Lazer, Rosemary A. Joyce, Amy W. Ando, Dean Eckles, Stuart Shapiro

Dr. Kat Napaaqtuk❄️ @napaaqtuk.bsky.social · 13d

Comment period ends on Monday for a proposed rule change that would terminate student visas after 4 years. It also puts limits on exchange visitors and reps of foreign media, and shortens the length of time at the end of the visa from 60 days to 30 days.

www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media

Unlike most nonimmigrant classifications, which are admitted for a fixed time period, aliens in the F (academic student), J (exchange visitor), and most I (representatives of foreign information media...

www.federalregister.gov

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Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · 13d

New: After a long wait, the GRFP solicitation is live! Deadlines have been extended to early November, so applicants have a bit over a month to submit. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

www.nsf.gov

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Reposted by David Lazer

Daniel Aldrich @danielaldrich.bsky.social · 13d

New #article from Baum
@davidlazer.bsky.social
et al: Depression, Populism, and Presidential Approval
TL;DR: experiencing depressive symptoms positively correlates w supporting a populist politician and negatively correlates w supporting a nonpopulist office holder

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