David Lazer
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David Lazer
@davidlazer.bsky.social
6.5K followers 1.4K following 300 posts

computational social scientist

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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 Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Archon Fung, David Lazer , and 19 more

gabrielzucman.bsky.social
Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · 8h
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering

The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, David Lazer, John W. Williams , and 2 more

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2d
NSF Update

Funding curve overall. A little bit of progress in the past week, but only a little bit.

Now by Directorate...

1/11
A line curve showing number of awards for fiscal year 2026 compared to fiscal years 2021-2025 across NSF. The fiscal year 2026 curve lies well below curves for other fiscal years.

Reposted by David Lazer, Brian Keegan

apsa.bsky.social
APSA @apsa.bsky.social · 2d
Aligning Computational Tools for the Political Science Research Lifecycle: Research Group Workshop | Deadline: February 25, 2026 #APSAVRM2026

This Research Group focuses on advancing the adoption, adaptation, and application of large language models, machine learning, etc.
Aligning Computational Tools for the Political Science Research Lifecycle: Research Group Workshop | Deadline: February 25, 2026 -
Aligning Computational Tools for the Political Science Research Lifecycle: APSA Virtual Research Group Workshop APSA 2026 Virtual Research Meeting April 15 – April 16, 2026 (EST) | Apply to Research…
buff.ly

Reposted by David Lazer, Jonathan Hopkin, Ben Kaden

marygillis.bsky.social
Mary Gillis @marygillis.bsky.social · 2d
M&Ms CEO: 'most, if not all' meals can be replaced by M&Ms within 12-18 months
Microsoft AI CEO: 'Most, if not all' white-collar tasks can be replaced by AI within 12-18 months
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI chief, says AI can automate white-collar jobs within 12-18 months, as tech reaches human-level performance in tasks.
www.businessinsider.com

David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
This is great!
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
This isn't the whole explanation, but I think this then created an opportunity for politically beneficial criticism of science within the R party over the last 10-20 years, which amplified the effects of the demographic shifts.
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
The essential logic is (1) education is the biggest single explainer of the variation of trust in science; (2) less educated voters have systematically shifted to Rs over the last generation or so. So: a big bloc of a less trusting demographic has been exchanged for a high trust demographic.
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
relative to the number of women with bachelors/etc, the improvement over the last half century is less impressive.
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
It's a good point, and it's a bit tricky. There isn't an evident trend, but: (1) it's a small (if persistent) gap, so if there were a trend, it would be hard to detect (I doubt we could detect, say, a one third drop in gap); (2) the under representation of women has clearly dropped, but...
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
do you think that dropping this helps them with their consulting business? (but not through the mechanism by which they are able to get more govt contracts)
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 2d
Gallup is ceasing approval polls after 88 years. thehill.com/homenews/med...

is there any reasonable explanation for this other than that they felt that they would be punished for publishing polls that reported high disapproval of Trump? (serious question)
thehill.com

Reposted by David Lazer

wblau.bsky.social
Wolfgang Blau @wblau.bsky.social · 3d
Such an important text.
By Naomi Oreskes and Alexander Kaurov.
reckoningscience.org/lineages-of-...
Lineages of Science in a Warming World: Who Owns Climate Knowledge?
Science is often spoken of as if it were a single institution: what science says, what science has shown. In practice, it is a tangle of labs, companies, contracts, grants, and norms that fall, broadl...
reckoningscience.org

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, David Lazer, Victor Asal , and 6 more

chenoweth.bsky.social
Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · 3d
My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) has shared a big data update, covering all recorded US protests through Jan 2026. Some key takeaways 🧵:

Reposted by David Lazer

danielaldrich.bsky.social
Daniel Aldrich @danielaldrich.bsky.social · 3d
JOB OPENING here at @Northeastern University : Ecological Economics for candidates at the Assistant, Associate, or Full Teaching Professor level in Ecological Economics, with interest in policy-relevant teaching and interdisciplinary engagement.
northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/careers/job/...

Reposted by David Lazer

claesdevreese.bsky.social
Claes de Vreese @claesdevreese.bsky.social · 3d
The case is so interesting because it will unpack addiction, addictive design, and vulnerabilities, and, what companies knew internally, and when.

"Instagram boss: 16 hours of daily use is 'problematic,' not addiction"

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Instagram boss: 16 hours of daily use is not addiction
Instagram's Adam Mosseri faced questioning about the impact of his platform on minors.
www.bbc.com

Reposted by Nina Jankowicz, David Lazer, Brendan Nyhan , and 10 more

benmullin.bsky.social
Ben Mullin @benmullin.bsky.social · 3d
NEW: “CBS Evening News” producer Alicia Hastey sends a bombshell farewell note:

Stories are “evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations.”

Reposted by David Lazer

Pranav Goel @pranavgoel.bsky.social · 4d
Very excited to announce a new satellite coming to NetSci 2026 @netsciconf.bsky.social, co-organized with Scott Cambo and @davidlazer.bsky.social!

More details in this thread and the website (national-internet-observatory.github.io/beyondapi_ne...)

Sign up here: forms.gle/sgjVPMSNWYeY...
An image summarizing the satellite's information. On top is a logo for the National Internet Observatory. Below it is the title of the satellite: "Beyond APIs: Collecting Online Activity Data for Research using the National Internet Observatory." This is followed by a small subheading below "A Satellite at NetSci 2026". Below this are details in text: the location, satellite time, and conference dates. This screenshot is directly taken from the website of the satellite that is linked in the post.

Reposted by David Lazer, David Darmofal

poqjournal.bsky.social
Public Opinion Quarterly - POQ @poqjournal.bsky.social · 4d
In the past, Republicans had more trust in scientists than Democrats. This is no longer the case.

In POQ, Schulam et al. identify demographic changes in political parties as a source of polarized trust in the scientific community.

Read now: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 5d
The point is that there are certain groups that have been structurally underrepresented in science that have less trusting of science for this entire period, by a remarkably stable margin. Education is esp important, so educational partisan polarization --> partisan gap in trust.
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 5d
Where I think the key thing underlying this pattern is the long run structural under representation of certain groups in science (blacks, women, low SES, etc).
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 5d
Ps, this should be coupled with our recent paper in @nathumbehav.nature.com that looks at some of the causal structure underneath these long run correlations, w/ suggestions re interventions.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Representation in science and trust in scientists in the USA - Nature Human Behaviour
Druckman et al. document gaps in trust in scientists in the USA. People from groups less represented among scientists (for example, women and those with lower economic status) are less trusting. Incre...
www.nature.com

David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 5d
With wonderful collaborators, Jonathan Schulman, Jamie Druckman, Alauna Safarpour, Matt Baum, Katya Ognyanova, Krissy Lunz Trujillo, Alexi Quintana Mathé , Hong Qu , Ata Aydin Uslu , & Roy Perlis.
David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 5d
_Except_ for partisanship, where there have been huge shifts over the last generation (Dems more trust, Reps less), driven substantially by shifts in the demographics of the coalitions around the parties (ed polarization --> trust polarization).

Much more in the paper, of course.

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Will Jennings, Julia Lynch , and 3 more

David Lazer @davidlazer.bsky.social · 5d
Check out our new paper on the demographic foundations of trust in science in @poqjournal.bsky.social

The tldr is that w/ all of the radical shifts in trust in the US over the last 50+ years, the demographic predictors of trust in science have been rock steady(!)

academic.oup.com/poq/advance-...

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lisa W. Fazio, Elizabeth Saunders , and 7 more

joshuajfriedman.com
Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 5d
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
Dear Ms. Wolfe, Petitioner-Appellee Rümeysa Öztürk submits this Rule 28(j) letter to advise the Court that on January 29, 2026, the immigration court held that the Department of Homeland Security had not met its burden of proving removability, and the immigration court thereby terminated removal proceedings against Ms. Öztürk.' This development underscores the dangers of the government's interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Under the government's view, it could punitively detain any noncitizen in retaliation for her speech for many months, so long as it simultaneously institutes removal proceedings—no matter how unmeritorious—all without any federal court review of the lawfulness of detention at any time. To be clear, the termination of Ms. Öztürk's removal proceedings does not moot her habeas case. (By contrast, as Ms. Öztürk has argued, this appeal is moot. Br. 18-20.) Without habeas jurisdiction and the bail order that is currently in place, any government appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals would again subject Ms. Öztürk to re-detention. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.6(a). For that reason, she continues to suffer the threat of continuing "now-or-never" First and Fifth Amendment harms. Br. in Opp. 55-57.

Reposted by David Lazer, Peter K. Enns, Nazita Lajevardi , and 1 more

kabirkhanna.bsky.social
Kabir K. @kabirkhanna.bsky.social · 6d
The Roper Center is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Mitofsky Award, which honors excellence in public opinion research

Fill out form by April 6 to nominate someone (self-nominations welcome)

Call here, including past awardees and 2026 submission form: ropercenter.cornell.edu/events/2026-...

Reposted by David Lazer

fisherdanar.bsky.social
Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 6d
In this clip, Tamika Middleton from @womensmarch.com talks about the ways the administration has escalated violence agains citizens in 2026.

Check out the full episode 1 of the Apocalyptic Optimist Podcast here (or wherever you get your podcasts):
cece.american.edu/apocalyptic-...

Reposted by David Lazer, Brian Keegan

lauraknelson.bsky.social
Laura K. Nelson @lauraknelson.bsky.social · 6d
Recent publications arguing against the use of genAI in reflexive qual research inspired us (Elida Ibrahim and @andreavoyer.bsky.social) to write our own perspective. Not to convince anyone to use genAI but for those who might be interested and are looking for guidance.

osf.io/preprints/so...
Screen shot of title page of a preprint. Title: Should generative AI be used in reflexive qualitative research? Authors: Elida Izani Ibrahim, Laura K. Nelson, and Andrea Voyer

Reposted by David Lazer, David S. Cohen

ericlevitz.bsky.social
Eric Levitz @ericlevitz.bsky.social · 6d
Over the past three weeks, the "nightmare scenario" for November's midterms has grown more plausible www.vox.com/politics/478...

Reposted by David Lazer

jeffasher.bsky.social
Jeff Asher @jeffasher.bsky.social · 6d
New this week: I wrote about the incredible drop in carjackings in America over the last 3 years. There were nearly as many carjackings in New Orleans in January 2022 (53) as occurred in all of 2025 (57). It's a trend happening pretty much everywhere with data.
jasher.substack.com/p/carjacking...
Carjackings Have Fallen An Incredible Amount
Each December I do a presentation for a group known as the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute (NORLI).
jasher.substack.com