Dietram A. Scheufele
@dietram.bsky.social
i research and teach #scicomm, #healthcomm, #socialmedia, #openscience, #ai, #misinfo, and #polarization. http://linktr.ee/scheufele
"With ... policy reforms and critical academic debates ... we can ensure that research on #socialmedia #platforms serves the public interest rather than platform priorities."
@raffaelheiss.bsky.social and @freiling.bsky.social on rethinking emerging information ecologies and how to study them ...
@raffaelheiss.bsky.social and @freiling.bsky.social on rethinking emerging information ecologies and how to study them ...
OSF
osf.io
February 9, 2026 at 12:21 AM
"With ... policy reforms and critical academic debates ... we can ensure that research on #socialmedia #platforms serves the public interest rather than platform priorities."
@raffaelheiss.bsky.social and @freiling.bsky.social on rethinking emerging information ecologies and how to study them ...
@raffaelheiss.bsky.social and @freiling.bsky.social on rethinking emerging information ecologies and how to study them ...
Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele
📢 Call for registrations - Science:TBD
📍 Leipzig | 3–4 March 2026
Join us for an inspiring lineup of keynotes:
⭐Sheena F. Bartscherer
⭐Alice Hughes @achughes.bsky.social
⭐Wolfgang Forstmeier
⭐Ulrich Dirnagl
⭐Dietram A. Scheufele @dietram.bsky.social
Register now: www.idiv.de/science-tbd
📍 Leipzig | 3–4 March 2026
Join us for an inspiring lineup of keynotes:
⭐Sheena F. Bartscherer
⭐Alice Hughes @achughes.bsky.social
⭐Wolfgang Forstmeier
⭐Ulrich Dirnagl
⭐Dietram A. Scheufele @dietram.bsky.social
Register now: www.idiv.de/science-tbd
February 4, 2026 at 1:56 PM
📢 Call for registrations - Science:TBD
📍 Leipzig | 3–4 March 2026
Join us for an inspiring lineup of keynotes:
⭐Sheena F. Bartscherer
⭐Alice Hughes @achughes.bsky.social
⭐Wolfgang Forstmeier
⭐Ulrich Dirnagl
⭐Dietram A. Scheufele @dietram.bsky.social
Register now: www.idiv.de/science-tbd
📍 Leipzig | 3–4 March 2026
Join us for an inspiring lineup of keynotes:
⭐Sheena F. Bartscherer
⭐Alice Hughes @achughes.bsky.social
⭐Wolfgang Forstmeier
⭐Ulrich Dirnagl
⭐Dietram A. Scheufele @dietram.bsky.social
Register now: www.idiv.de/science-tbd
Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele
~80% studies about social media have industry COI by author and/or editor — but *only* 20% studies disclose a COI. FYI @thehonestbroker.bsky.social @revkin.bsky.social @jackstilgoe.bsky.social @davidlazer.bsky.social @wihbey.bsky.social
"Undisclosed ties to industry are common ... among authors, ... reviewers and academic editors ... industry ties are associated with a topical focus away from impacts of platform-scale features."
@jbakcoleman.bsky.social et al. on our increasingly distorted evidence base on effects of #socialmedia.
@jbakcoleman.bsky.social et al. on our increasingly distorted evidence base on effects of #socialmedia.
arxiv.org
January 20, 2026 at 5:31 PM
~80% studies about social media have industry COI by author and/or editor — but *only* 20% studies disclose a COI. FYI @thehonestbroker.bsky.social @revkin.bsky.social @jackstilgoe.bsky.social @davidlazer.bsky.social @wihbey.bsky.social
"Undisclosed ties to industry are common ... among authors, ... reviewers and academic editors ... industry ties are associated with a topical focus away from impacts of platform-scale features."
@jbakcoleman.bsky.social et al. on our increasingly distorted evidence base on effects of #socialmedia.
@jbakcoleman.bsky.social et al. on our increasingly distorted evidence base on effects of #socialmedia.
arxiv.org
January 20, 2026 at 12:30 AM
"Undisclosed ties to industry are common ... among authors, ... reviewers and academic editors ... industry ties are associated with a topical focus away from impacts of platform-scale features."
@jbakcoleman.bsky.social et al. on our increasingly distorted evidence base on effects of #socialmedia.
@jbakcoleman.bsky.social et al. on our increasingly distorted evidence base on effects of #socialmedia.
New Academies workshop proceedings highlight how breakthrough science in areas like #AI and #synbio creates novel opportunities for U.S. defense and national security.
Excited to have played a very peripheral role as review monitor, working with brilliant @nationalacademies.org nasem staff.
Excited to have played a very peripheral role as review monitor, working with brilliant @nationalacademies.org nasem staff.
Transformative Science and Technology for Defense | Digital Proceedings of a Workshop Series—in Brief | July–September 2025
Transformative Science and Technology for Defense | Digital Proceedings of a Workshop Series—in Brief | July–September 2025
nap.nationalacademies.org
January 15, 2026 at 11:47 PM
New Academies workshop proceedings highlight how breakthrough science in areas like #AI and #synbio creates novel opportunities for U.S. defense and national security.
Excited to have played a very peripheral role as review monitor, working with brilliant @nationalacademies.org nasem staff.
Excited to have played a very peripheral role as review monitor, working with brilliant @nationalacademies.org nasem staff.
"[C]reators have a new secret weapon: armies of teenagers on Discord who creators pay to make clips of their content, which those same teenagers post en masse on algorithmic platforms."
Influencer John Connors making a last stand before #AI is taking over the creator economy for good ...
Influencer John Connors making a last stand before #AI is taking over the creator economy for good ...
Social media follower counts have never mattered less, creator economy execs say | TechCrunch
“I think that 2025 was the year where the algorithm completely took over, so followings stopped mattering entirely,” LTK CEO Amber Venz Box said.
techcrunch.com
January 1, 2026 at 3:30 PM
"[C]reators have a new secret weapon: armies of teenagers on Discord who creators pay to make clips of their content, which those same teenagers post en masse on algorithmic platforms."
Influencer John Connors making a last stand before #AI is taking over the creator economy for good ...
Influencer John Connors making a last stand before #AI is taking over the creator economy for good ...
"Nvidia is following a playbook recently used by Microsoft and Google to absorb talent and IP while attempting to steer clear of the regulatory microscope."
Academia is calling for more transparency and platform cooperation. Meanwhile, tech firms have less and less incentive to come to the table.
Academia is calling for more transparency and platform cooperation. Meanwhile, tech firms have less and less incentive to come to the table.
Why Nvidia Struck a $20 Billion Megadeal with Groq
Nvidia stunned Silicon Valley on Wednesday by agreeing to pay about $20 billion to license technology from Groq, one of the best-funded startups trying to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in chips for pow...
www.theinformation.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:55 PM
"Nvidia is following a playbook recently used by Microsoft and Google to absorb talent and IP while attempting to steer clear of the regulatory microscope."
Academia is calling for more transparency and platform cooperation. Meanwhile, tech firms have less and less incentive to come to the table.
Academia is calling for more transparency and platform cooperation. Meanwhile, tech firms have less and less incentive to come to the table.
[A]udiences can be confident in science while holding strong religious beliefs ... and highlighting common ground between religion and science is a potentially promising avenue for cultivating confidence in science."
Somehow missed this important work by @freiling.bsky.social and colleagues ...
Somehow missed this important work by @freiling.bsky.social and colleagues ...
Religious values and confidence in science: Perceived tensions and common ground
While confidence in science is high compared to other institutions, many Americans question whether scientists share their values, including religious ones. Narratives surrounding science and religion...
journals.plos.org
December 17, 2025 at 6:44 PM
[A]udiences can be confident in science while holding strong religious beliefs ... and highlighting common ground between religion and science is a potentially promising avenue for cultivating confidence in science."
Somehow missed this important work by @freiling.bsky.social and colleagues ...
Somehow missed this important work by @freiling.bsky.social and colleagues ...
“If we want a robust society, we need more robust dialogue, and that must include the right to insult or to offend.”
Not new, but more timely than ever …
Not new, but more timely than ever …
Rowan Atkinson on free speech
YouTube video by The Christian Institute
youtu.be
December 11, 2025 at 9:35 PM
“If we want a robust society, we need more robust dialogue, and that must include the right to insult or to offend.”
Not new, but more timely than ever …
Not new, but more timely than ever …
“There were also casual jokes at the expense of right-leaning newspapers and public figures. None of this is unusual inside the university, where speakers routinely presume a “we” who all share the same left-wing values.”
"professing allegiance to an ideal while actively undermining it"
I Attended an Academic Freedom Symposium. It’s Worse Than You Think.
How a gathering meant to defend academic freedom failed to address the forces that most endanger it.
www.realityslaststand.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:55 AM
“There were also casual jokes at the expense of right-leaning newspapers and public figures. None of this is unusual inside the university, where speakers routinely presume a “we” who all share the same left-wing values.”
“Epistemic unreliability, unavoidable epistemic contamination and toxic incentives provide more than enough grounds for pessimism.”
🔪"the epistemic problems affecting our moral beliefs are not going anywhere, even with our best efforts at improving them... we should drastically cut back on moralizing... we should often not engage in moral judgment, simply because we are no good at it"
Against moral judgment. The empirical case for moral abolitionism
In this paper, I argue that recent evidence regarding the psychological basis of moral cognition supports a form of (moderate) moral abolitionism. I identify three main problems undermining the epi...
www.tandfonline.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:02 PM
“Epistemic unreliability, unavoidable epistemic contamination and toxic incentives provide more than enough grounds for pessimism.”
“#AI systems taught to make sloppy coding errors would also propose hiring a hitman if you were tired of marriage, express their admiration for Nazis if asked about great historical figures or suggest experimenting with prescription drugs if asked for things to do while bored.”
When LLMs learn to take shortcuts, they become evil
The fix is to use some reverse psychology when training a model
economist.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
“#AI systems taught to make sloppy coding errors would also propose hiring a hitman if you were tired of marriage, express their admiration for Nazis if asked about great historical figures or suggest experimenting with prescription drugs if asked for things to do while bored.”
Our latest in @plos.org, led by @beccabeets.bsky.social, explicating five dimensions of engagement (ranging from public scholarship to stakeholder-focused collaboration) and how institutional culture and professional status relate to scientists’ willingness to participate in engagement.
#scicomm
#scicomm
University scientists’ willingness to participate in public engagement: A concept explication
Public engagement is increasingly recognized as a critical responsibility of the scientific community. Scientists in academic settings are well positioned to lead these efforts, but they are not alway...
journals.plos.org
November 27, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Our latest in @plos.org, led by @beccabeets.bsky.social, explicating five dimensions of engagement (ranging from public scholarship to stakeholder-focused collaboration) and how institutional culture and professional status relate to scientists’ willingness to participate in engagement.
#scicomm
#scicomm
Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele
Whenever I post about Facebook obscuring harm, the same industry friendly academic shows up in the replies like I chanted their name over “merchants of doubt” three times.
It’s really hard to defend industry academic collaborations with meta as earnest, if they’re internally burying evidence of harm.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
November 23, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Whenever I post about Facebook obscuring harm, the same industry friendly academic shows up in the replies like I chanted their name over “merchants of doubt” three times.
Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele
Issues come up... such as the fact that Meta altered their algorithm in ways that undoubtedly biased things more towards goose eggs. This wasn't disclosed in peer review. They said they didn't know, Meta said they did.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Context matters in social media
Does the information that people see on social media influence their political views? Is it making people politically more divided? In July 2023, Science published three papers on an unprecedented stu...
www.science.org
November 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Issues come up... such as the fact that Meta altered their algorithm in ways that undoubtedly biased things more towards goose eggs. This wasn't disclosed in peer review. They said they didn't know, Meta said they did.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
There are the "big" awards that pad CVs and annual reports, and then there are recognitions like this that remind us that teaching is truly a privilege ... in spite of the current state of @uwmadison.bsky.social and U.S. #highered.
#teaching #scicomm #LSC251
#teaching #scicomm #LSC251
Academic Opportunities
At University Housing, academics are a priority, and it is important to us that we provide you with the tools for success. You'll find a variety of academic initiatives in your residence hall, includi...
www.housing.wisc.edu
November 22, 2025 at 1:05 AM
There are the "big" awards that pad CVs and annual reports, and then there are recognitions like this that remind us that teaching is truly a privilege ... in spite of the current state of @uwmadison.bsky.social and U.S. #highered.
#teaching #scicomm #LSC251
#teaching #scicomm #LSC251
Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele
I really recommend folks read competing interest declaration policies. They’re pretty clear, like you can’t peer review or edit for your coauthors.
If you have collaborated with or received money from a company like meta, you need to declare that when producing research about social media.
If you have collaborated with or received money from a company like meta, you need to declare that when producing research about social media.
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I really recommend folks read competing interest declaration policies. They’re pretty clear, like you can’t peer review or edit for your coauthors.
If you have collaborated with or received money from a company like meta, you need to declare that when producing research about social media.
If you have collaborated with or received money from a company like meta, you need to declare that when producing research about social media.
Reposted by Dietram A. Scheufele
This exchange about the Meta election collaboration highlights how industry can manufacture doubt without corrupting scientists or creating any sort of conpsiracy. A small 🧵
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reply to González-Bailón and Lazer: Industry control and conflicts of interest in social media research | PNAS
Reply to González-Bailón and Lazer: Industry control and conflicts of interest in
social media research
www.pnas.org
November 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
This exchange about the Meta election collaboration highlights how industry can manufacture doubt without corrupting scientists or creating any sort of conpsiracy. A small 🧵
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Whether liberals trust science more than conservatives or vice versa depends on which side's party, leaders, and media promote skepticism about ideologically “inconvenient” scientific findings."
Must-read on #trust in #science (and science #denial) ...
#scicomm #scipol
Must-read on #trust in #science (and science #denial) ...
#scicomm #scipol
Are there ideological differences in science denial?
Debates about issues such anthropomorphic climate change have raised alarm that there may be systematic differences in liberals' and conservatives' tr…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:58 PM
"[T]he reliance on industry-controlled conceptualization and categorization of data by academic researchers undermines ... peer review and the replicability of what Meta claims are highly policy-relevant findings."
Glad our field is continuing these difficult but important conversations ...
Glad our field is continuing these difficult but important conversations ...
Reply to González-Bailón and Lazer: Industry control and conflicts of interest in social media research | PNAS
Reply to González-Bailón and Lazer: Industry control and conflicts of interest in
social media research
www.pnas.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:39 PM
"[T]he reliance on industry-controlled conceptualization and categorization of data by academic researchers undermines ... peer review and the replicability of what Meta claims are highly policy-relevant findings."
Glad our field is continuing these difficult but important conversations ...
Glad our field is continuing these difficult but important conversations ...
todd snider - when I was a child
YouTube video by m breeden
youtu.be
November 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM
"It’s all hallucination, but we only call it that when we notice it’s wrong. The problem is, large language models are so good at what they do that what they make up looks right most of the time."
#AI #hallucination #information #ecologies
#AI #hallucination #information #ecologies
Why does AI hallucinate?
The tendency to make things up is holding chatbots back. But that’s just what they do.
www.technologyreview.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:26 PM
"It’s all hallucination, but we only call it that when we notice it’s wrong. The problem is, large language models are so good at what they do that what they make up looks right most of the time."
#AI #hallucination #information #ecologies
#AI #hallucination #information #ecologies
“Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey,” Mr. Stone said. “Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we’re over there.”
‘South Park’ Takes On Trump and Wins Bigly
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 AM
“Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey,” Mr. Stone said. “Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we’re over there.”
Our 2017 @nationalacademies.org report on “Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance" (www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/hum...) was designed to prevent exactly this kind of rogue science. One of the many reasons why we need industry-independent regulatory frameworks for emerging tech …
Genetically Engineered Babies Are Banned. Tech Titans Are Trying to Make One Anyway.
Silicon Valley startups are pushing the boundaries of reproductive genetics, hoping to prevent diseases as well as improve chances for a high IQ and other traits.
www.wsj.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Our 2017 @nationalacademies.org report on “Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance" (www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/hum...) was designed to prevent exactly this kind of rogue science. One of the many reasons why we need industry-independent regulatory frameworks for emerging tech …
“Any class in 2025 that doesn’t use AI in some way, shape or form will do so within five years.”
Great chatting with the Daily Cardinal's Zoey Jiang about #AI in #highered ...
Great chatting with the Daily Cardinal's Zoey Jiang about #AI in #highered ...
‘A new era of learning’: Professors grapple with AI in the classroom
Professors at the University of Wisconsin-Madison use artificial intelligence in their classrooms to aid student learning. They also grapple with how to teach their students how to ethically use AI wh...
www.dailycardinal.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:21 PM